As Hindu group built world-class temple in N.J., a group of Indian workers alleges they were exploited
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They were allegedly recruited as cheap labor to help build a temple.
Members of the lowest-rung of India’s caste system, known as Dalits, were brought to New Jersey to help build a magnificent Hindu temple in Robbinsville, working behind the scenes to perform what they allege to be grueling and often dangerous work.
“What is ironic here is that those who are forbidden to enter into the Hindu Temples in India for the reason of impurity and pollution are brought into the U.S. with religious visa to build a temple,” said Ben Chinnappan, president and executive director of Dalit Solidarity, a U.S.-based organization advocating for Dalit rights.
ROBBINSVILLE Construction at the site of one of the world s largest Hindu temples on a sprawling property in Mercer County has been halted, amid an FBI raid and accusations of forced labor and slave-like wages involving Indian nationals.
“Violations at the BAPS temple are horrific, unfathomable,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at Wednesday s state briefing, when asked about the class-action lawsuit filed in federal court Tuesday.
He continued it would be just awful if all of the violations and accused actions turned out to be validated.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of nearly 200 men from India who say they were brought to the U.S. between 2018 and 2020, and paid $1.20 an hour for menial construction work.
FBI agents, Homeland Security at Robbinsville Hindu temple
ROBBINSVILLE FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents descended Tuesday morning at a large Hindu temple.
Agents showed up at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir on Main Street in before 8 a.m. and plan to be there the rest of the day, according to township spokesman John Nalbone.
He said Robbinsville police and the Mercer County Prosecutor s Office were not involved in the activity.
“The FBI is there on court authorized law enforcement activity. No further comment, FBI spokeswoman Doreen Holder told New Jersey 101.5 in an email.
The temple and its headquarters in Piscataway on Tuesday morning did not respond to New Jersey 101.5 s request for more comment.
5 ex-workers sue BAPS in US alleging forced labour
By
Arul Louis ( IANS) |
Published on
Wed, May 12 2021 10:18 IST |
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New York, May 12 : Five men who had worked at a Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple have filed a case in a federal court alleging that they were made to work as forced labour in the construction and maintenance of the shrine in New Jersey, according to court documents.
The case was filed on Tuesday in a federal court in New Jersey on behalf of the men described in the court papers as Dalits from Rajasthan, who had worked at the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, which is reportedly the largest Hindu temple in the US.