But whats striking is that this is in the United States, he said. The outer beauty of the temple conceals the evil within perpetrated by the leaders. The May raid on a Hindu temple in New Jersey, however, . A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses the leaders of the Hindu sect known as . But what happens when White Supremacists claim religious status, i.e. 10. New Delhi:ASwaminarayan temple in New Jersey, US, was raided by theFederal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security,and the US Department of Labourtoinvestigate allegations of forced labour against Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sansthan (BAPS),reportedThe New York Times. The suit says the defendants lured low-caste men and members of other marginalized communities to work at the temple, which is still under construction. The Second Amendment gives Americans the right to own as many assault weapons as they can afford. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to expand on your thoughts. Thank you. Eyewitness News received a statement from the communications firm working with BAPS Robbinsville: "We were first made aware of the accusations this morning. This opens the door to the abuses enumerated above and many other human rights violations. Scientology is also willing to spend enormous amounts of parishioner money to fight it out in court. This is how the First Amendment works. 1,107 hospitalized, 263 in intensive care. Eyewitness News. Excellent point on David Duke. First Amendment religious protections and Supreme Court rulings were used to enforce slavery and racism in America for hundreds of years. Laborers From India Are Suing New Jersey Hindu Temple For Worker Abuse Laborers from India have filed a lawsuit against one of the largest Hindu temples in the United States. Scientology is particularly notorious in this regard. According to the complaint, the workers wereallegedlybrought to the US on R-1 Visas that are applicable for clergy and religious workers like missionaries. Hicks also defended his departments soaring overtime costs before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, OFFICIALS STRUGGLE TO INTRODUCE NEW JERSEYANS TO NOVEL CONCEPT OF BRIBERY With NJ COVID vaccine goal at risk, 'bribe people' an option to get more shots in arms, by The Records Scott Fallon and Kristie Kattafi: New Jersey's daily rate of COVID vaccinations has plummeted so much in recent weeks that it's casting doubt on whether Gov. confirmed agents had been on the temple grounds but would not comment further. The New Jersey temple is meant to be the crown jewel in BAPSs growing number of American places of worship. The organization, related entities and several people are accused of recruiting the men to come to New Jersey and help build the temple for around 87 hours a week for $450 a month, or around $1.20 an hour. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. Too sprawled out? The organisation hasalso donated the equivalent of about $290,000 to the construction of the temple in Ayodhya, theNYTreport said. So that's nice. While the temple appears complete, Eyewitness News is told that these workers were part of various ongoing construction projects. ***** Details of the groups spending has not been previously reported. About 90 workers were removed from the site, according to a person familiar with the matter. A majority of the workers were Dalits, said the report. They were given $450 a month $50 in hand and $400 deposited to their bank accounts in India. Sawant, aDalit herself, organised the temple workers and arranged legal teams to takeupthe case, according toNYT. The Civil Rights Cases (1883) Kakaleck says her clients worked long hours without days off between 2018 and 2020, performing hard manual labor and earned about $1.20 an hour. THE CHURCH Former Newark Archbishop sexually abused 5-year-old in church rectory, lawsuit claims, by NJ Advance Medias Kelly Heyboer: A former Newark resident went to the Archdiocese of Newark last year with an explosive claim. They allegethat they werepaid $1 per hour for their work when the minimum wage in New Jersey is$12 per hour. Why do they get a free ride? Sikander Ranu says his religion differs widely from the BAPS sect of Hinduism, including that Sikhism does not recognize the caste system, which he feels may have made these workers more vulnerable. While these groups are anti-Government and racist, they nevertheless enjoy tax exemption and other religious protections. Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) Conversely, there is zero accountability for how religious leaders at the top spend tax-exempt dollars. I would also argue that grifters are by no means a specifically religious phenomenon. A spokeswoman for the F.B.I. Korematsu v. United States (1944). In any event, while my conclusion may differ from yours in this case, I am most thankful that youre putting the facts out there and following the money. Always good to read your blog! "They had their passports taken and their visas confiscated," Kakaleck said. Representatives of BAPS denied these allegations in interviews to the New York Times. Scientology brings these people in on R1 religious worker visas. Matthew 23: 27-28. FBI agents and other law enforcement officials raided the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Robbinsville, NJ, following a lawsuit by several workers accusing the temple of exploiting them and paying the equivalent of roughly $1.20 an hour. Why is this even allowed? This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Scientology promises a generous wage and a better life in America. Kakaleck represents six previous temple workers in a suit that involves at least 200 low-caste men allegedly lured from India to New Jersey. The FBI would not confirm what action they took on the property. The organization has strong ties with Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The Texas Supreme Court stuck down the lower court that had authorized Texas Child Protective Services to take the children. May this be a wedge in the ongoing work to stop slave labor in religious settings. Over the years, the organization has grown into a global enterprise made up of both for-profit and nonprofit entities. I respectfully disagree with the wage claim, Kanu Patel, the chief executive of BAPS, told The New York Times, while noting he was not in charge of day-to-day operations at the site. Phil Murphy will meet his goal to fully vaccinate 4.7 million adults by the end of June. So this is a story worth keeping an eye on. FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4325293. The federal raid comes as a lawsuit claims workers were lured there from India. Instead of changing gun ownership laws, the US Government deemed the Branch Davidians fully legal exercise of US gun laws to be terroristic in nature. Bullets of all calibers are in high demand and manufacturers are hard-pressed to keep up with the demand. They allege that the . The evidence is all there. Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the presidents ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Gov. A self-serving view of Karma, a sense that the lower caste Dalit slaving away in the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple or the Sea Org deserve the brutality, exploitation, and indignities they endure daily to survive is characteristic of spiritual hypocrisy. I hope this may pave the way for law enforcement to stop Scientologys labor abuses. But it was contained to 50 health care workers and 31 adult patients at the facility, none of whom developed serious illness or was hospitalized, he said., How the closed pipeline and truck driver shortages could affect N.J. gas pumps, R.I.P. And you are using your skills to tell TRUTH. The Hindu Temple of Dayton is a Hindu temple in Beavercreek, Ohio. We can both agree that there are a number of bad actors in religion. If you research Joel Osteen, you will see how he manipulates the existing laws to his personal financial advantage. However, the lawyers for the workers say the men were forced to do manual labour on the site and made to work for more than 13 hours a day. The department on Monday released guidance on how state and local governments can use $350 billion in funding from President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion rescue package. The FBI was at a massive Hindu temple in New Jersey on Tuesday that has been accused in a lawsuit of luring Indian men from marginalized communities to the U.S. and forcing them to work nearly 90 hours a week for around $1 an hour. Lenin Joshi, a spokesman for BAPS, told the newspaper, "We are naturally shaken by this turn of events and are sure that once the full facts come out, we will be able to provide answers and show that these accusations and allegations are without merit.". After fleeing and a manhunt, Warren Jeffs was arrested in 2006 and later convicted for his sex crimes against the young girls in the FLDS community. Missed yesterday: State Sen. Religions have increasingly turned to using secular arbitration law in contracts signed by religious volunteers. However, narcissism, conceit, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement does. This is some damn good writing, Jeff . Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided a temple in New Jersey Tuesday after allegations that a Hindu sect lured hundreds of low-caste men from India to work on the building's construction for about $1 per hour under grueling conditions, numerous sources reported. Its a human trafficking story the workers allegedly came over on religious visas for volunteers, had their passports taken an were confined to the grounds a class story and yes, even a political one. 5. In that process, we need specialized artisans, Mr. Joshi said, saying this work qualified the men for the visas. This ruling was not a deterrent in any way to those churches associated with White Supremacy or White Nationalism. Her firm describes this as one of the largest forced labor cases in decades and seeks back wages in accordance to New Jersey's minimum wage. STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? I appreciate you bringing something to our attention that would otherwise quickly sink in the din of news noise. Phil Murphys Covid-19 response, using the bulk of their time during a 2 1/2-hour budget hearing to tear into the administrations management of outbreaks at nursing homes, its economic reopening guidance and limited public transparency. Crader cited legal restrictions barring the disclosure of any discipline, but made plain the district did not look the other way. Too rich? Earlier, the organisation had comeunderthe radar of US federal agencies after a 17-year-old boy diedin 2017 followinga fallatthe construction site. One laborer died from an apparent illness last autumn, prompting a backlash among the workers, according to the complaint and another worker. BAPS has close ties to Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, according to the article. The Mormons abandoned polygamy as a result. New Jersey temple, Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu sect known as BAPS, underpaid and exploited its workers . Chidiac did not immediately return messages. A spokesman for the department did not respond to a request for comment. As reported by American Bazaar, the raid on the temple was conducted by three US Federal agencies including the FBI: 'Imagine you bought a house at Killington Ski Resort and said, I dont want those skiers around, Ferla told me. The only hope that I have is that people will see organizations such as these two (and more) for what they are and that as a people we will unmask these frauds, deprive them of oxygen, prosecute where warranted and move on to better things. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. This did not work because bullet manufacturers increased capacity to meet demand and yet demand for ammunition remains higher than ever. Kakalec said that the situation was a "labor trafficking" case" and that the workers were "constantly monitored" with dozens of cameras and threatened with fines for breaking rules. In fact, I would argue that as the US increasingly secularizes so do the hucksters. Daniel Werner, a lawyer in the wage claim suit, said he believed this could be the first forced-labor case of its scale in the United States since dozens of Thai garment workers were discovered laboring in horrible conditions in El Monte, Calif. in 1995 a landmark case that helped lead to the creation of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. 1.47 MASTROS Pro-Murphy group details $13.2M in spending, by POLITICOs Matt Friedman: A nonprofit run by Gov. Tilton poured his budget to buy television time into these communities he targeted. Moreover, religious leaders have no legal obligations to make any financial disclosures to their own rank and file membership. The Nation of Islam believes that Whites are inherently inferior and that Jews, in particular, are behind the suppression of Blacks. And it is truly despicable. "They were brought in as religious workers, but they were not religious workers and they certainly were not volunteers," Patricia Kakaleck, an attorney at Kakaleck Law, said. Id imagine that theyve closed the temple to the public and have goon guards around the entrance. We are not alone in arguing that here is a pervasive and widespread abuse of the First Amendment religious protections. From The New York Times we learn that federal agents raided a massive Hindu temple in Robbinsville of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) sect, which appears to be related to a lawsuit accusing it of using low-caste laborers from India and paying them about $1 a day for grueling labor. The former friends and colleagues are split over Johnson, with Paul accusing Huttle of using her experience with Johnson for her own political leverage, trying to undermine the off-the-line contenders campaign. The funds are intended to help states and local governments make up for lost revenue, curb the pandemic, bolster economic recoveries, and support industries hit by Covid-19 restrictions. The New Jersey case, Mr. Werner said, could be compared to instances of severe worker exploitation seen overseas. From The New York Times we learn that federal agents raided a massive Hindu temple in Robbinsville of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha . Superintendent Tami Crader stopped short of revealing exactly what action was taken against Neptune Middle School Vice Principal Michael Smurro, whose conduct during the April 24 skirmish were caught on cellphone video and widely shared. None of this is religious work; it is all manual labor for pennies an hour. We said, We dont want to die like that, he said. Without having gotten into the lawsuit much, my initial impression is that if they did any masonry/cement (as opposed to just manual labor) theyre going to have major Joy-zee problem. With Ocean Wind 2 . And I share your outrage that these criminals abuse the special trust and vulnerability that exists in a belief-based (religious or otherwise) relationship. Swaminarayan Akshardham in Robbinsville, New Jersey, is a Hindu mandir (temple) complex. He ducked all of it, apparently preferring a fire-blanket opening statement to suffice, or others to write his words for him (or not! They thought they would have a good job and see America. They were asked to sign several documents, often in English, and instructed to tell U.S. embassy staffers that they were skilled carvers or decorative painters, the complaint said. Not enough evidence (sure not)? Look at the religious job descriptions: Scientology recruits and exploits poor people from outside of America to work making beds, cooking, gardening, doing janitorial work, etc. Deal public beach access: Would new parking rules keep out those who don't live here? Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, New Jersey (Weehawken) Sri Venkateswara Temple (New Jersey) Swaminarayan Akshardham (North America) Categories: Hindu temples in the United States by state. ***** So, Jeffrey, whats your take on why the Church of Scientology doesnt get raided? It is allowed because First Amendment religious protections allow a convicted sex felon to run his White-only polygamist church from a prison cell. wont support eminent domain, wants to negotiate BMC deal with HRH. 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