The All India Akhara Parishad, the highest religious body of sadhus, in its special meeting on Sunday released names of 14 saints as “fake” including the two incarcerated sadhus — Gurmeet Ram Rahim and Asaram Bapu.

Surprisingly, the Parishad has also declared the controversial Sukhvinder Kaur alias Radhe Maa and Swami Aseemanand, who was jailed in a terror case but now is on bail, as fake. The Parishad has also announced Nirmal Baba as fake..

The list of the fake baba's are Ashumal Shirmalani alias Asharam Bapu, Sukhvinder Kaur alias Radhe Maa, Sachin Dutt alias Sacchinand Giri, Gurmeet Ram Rahim of Dera Saccha Sauda, Vivekanand Jha alias Om Baba, Nirmalpreet Singh alias Nirmal Baba, Shivmurti Dwivedi alias Icchadhar Bhimanand, Swami Aseemanand, Om Namo Shivaya, Narain Sai( son of  Asharam Bapu), Ram Pal, Bhrispati Giri ,Kushmuni and Malkhan Giri.

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (All India Akhara Council) is the apex organisation of Hindu Sants (saints) and Sadhus (ascetics) in India.^[1][2] The ABAP is composed of 14 Akharas, or organisations of Hindu sants and sadhus. Nirmohi Akhara (involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute in Ayodhya) and Shri Dattatreya Akhara are two of the prominent akharas which are part of it..

The system of Akharas may date as far back as early 8th century, when Adi Shankaracharya is believed to have established seven Akharas (possibly 10 as they are also known as Dasnaami): Mahanirvani, Niranjani, Juna, Atal, Avahan, Agni and Anand Akhara. The earliest recorded founding of an Akhara was that of the Abhana in 547 CE.^[3] During periods of Muslim rule in India and later British rule, the Akharas congregated and organised together, especially during the Kumbha Mela to work for the preservation of Hindu religion and culture.^[3] In 1565, Madhusudana Sarasvati started preparing Akharas as an armed military force to resist invasions and protect Hindus.

Politics

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While the ABAP does not participate in electoral politics, it has a position of great importance in Hindu society as a leading Hindu leadership organisation. At times, it has cooperated with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu religious organisation more openly involved in politics and part of the Sangh Parivar of Hindu nationalist organisations. However, the ABAP has also openly criticised the VHP for raising unncessary controversies and refused to follow an agenda set by the VHP.^[2] In the past, the ABAP refused to endorse the Sangh Parivar-affiliated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for elections.^[4]

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad has encouraged and supported the movement for the construction of a Ram Janmabhumi Templeon the site where the now-demolished Babri Mosque stood in Ayodhya. The place is believed to be the site of birth of Rama, the eighth and one of the most popular Avatars of Vishnu. In 1989, the Nirmohi Akhara filed litigation regarding the site, and in 2010 their claim was upheld by the Allahabad High Court, which gave the Akhara control of one-third of the site. The ABAP welcomed the verdict, asserting that it would prevent further exploitation of the issue by political parties...daily pioneer and wiki