Agnivesh was an Indian politician and a Member of Legislative Assembly from the Indian state of Haryana and a social activist, best known for his work against bonded labour through the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which he founded in 1981. Agnivesh joined Arya Samaj in 1970 and served as the president of the World Council of the organisation, and by 2008 he was removed from Arya Samaj. He also served as the chairperson of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery from 1994 to 2004. He was referred to by the honorific title Swami Agnivesh.