Thousands of people poured into the massive Hindu temple in Robbinsville, NJ in early November to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. At the same time, allegations of forced labor at the temple that were initiated in May, were expanded to include temples from the same sect in other major cities in the country.
Just five minutes from MCCC’s main campus, a Hindu temple known as BAPS (it stands for Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Inc.) has been accused of labor trafficking of over 200 workers from India, paying them as little as $1.20 an hour to work in dangerous conditions building the enormous temple which is still being constructed after more than five years.
The initial allegations against BAPS said the laborers had been assured that they would be working four to seven hours a day doing artisanal work on the temple. Instead, they say, they worked 87 hours a week lifting massive stones, breathing harmful dust, and receiving just one day off a month.
Brought to the U.S. from India using R-1 religious visas, temporary visas that allow immigrants to do volunteer religious jobs, the workers say they were not volunteers at all and that their passports were taken away.
The majority of the workers were Dalit, the lowest rung on India’s caste system.
For years, the lawsuit alleges, BAPS discouraged workers from sharing any information by threatening to reduce their pay or send them home. Deductions were also taken if a worker was at all seen idling and smoking.
Attorney Dan Werner, who represents the plaintiffs in the case-Mukesh Kumar, Keshav Kumar, Devi Laal, Niranjan, Pappu, Brajendra –is a lawyer at Radford & Keebaugh, LLC., a firm known for its focus on civil rights and employment law.
He says, “This is a horrific case of worker exploitation and it is even more disturbing that it has gone on for years in New Jersey behind the temple’s walls.” Werner adds, “These workers were coerced through lies to come to the United States to work and then suffered tremendously – they were basically forced into servitude.”
There were also instances where workers were threatened by physical restraint, serious harm, threat of a legal process, as well as various other schemes, the suit alleges.
One worker, Moham Lal, who was just 37 at the time, died at the Robbinsville temple. Three more workers from the temple died after returning to India.
Mercer English Professor Laura Knight, who has visited the Robbinsville temple, says, “I am very disappointed that an organization that has done so much charitable work would treat their workers in this fashion.”
According to their website, the followers of the temple believe Bhagwan Swaminarayan, the founder of BAPS, to be an earthly manifestation of Aksharbrahma, defined as the Ultimate Reality in Vedic scriptures.
The site says under his teachings and philosophy, “The universal values He preached promoted non-violence, detachment to material wealth, and devotion to God and His sadhu. The moral disciplines He reintroduced to society have built cohesive communities.”
The BAPS organization is closely linked to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his highly conservative and nationalist government, having donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his projects. In 2020 Modi tweeted “I am very proud of my association with the @BAPS family, known for its impeccable service world-wide.”
The Robbinsville temple refused to respond to numerous requests for comment.
Asked for his reaction to the situation at the temple, County Executive Brian Hughes said through his representative Julie Willmont, “Mercer County has a policy to withhold comment on matters under active investigation by law enforcement. However, in all circumstances Mercer County abhors any violation of human rights and will fight for the protection of those rights and dignity for all.”
County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri, who spoke on the topic of human trafficking as part of MCCC’s Distinguished Lecture series in 2018, could not be reached. His office said that the matter has been handed over to the federal government and is no longer under their jurisdiction.
David Fried, Mayor of Robbinsville, also declined to comment on ongoing investigations, but told the Asbury Park Press back in May, “We’re very surprised by this. They’ve had a great relationship with the town. They’ve been a great corporate citizen.” He added, “I’ve certainly never seen anything that would give me pause during my visits there. This is absolutely very surprising.”
New Jersey is a national hot spot for human trafficking problems. According to data tracked by the National Human Trafficking Hotline, New Jersey has averaged about 200 reported cases per year since 2015. But the problem in this case seems to have spread.
The civil complaint, originally handed down in May of 2021, was expanded at the end of October to include BAPS temples in Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Correction: In a previous version of this article the term “indictment” was used incorrectly to identify a “civil complaint,” this error has been corrected.
