Months after Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) won the 2-year-long legal battle against false accusations of caste discrimination, The New York Times (NYT) has now targeted the newly-inaugurated Akshardham Mahamandir in Robbinsville in the New Jersey State of United States.
In an article published on Saturday (21st October), NYT claimed, “Federal law enforcement agents raided the temple construction site in 2021 after workers accused the builders, a prominent Hindu sect with ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and his ruling party, of forced labour, low wages and poor working conditions.”
“Their lawyers said workers who were Dalit, the lowest rung in India’s caste system, were specifically targeted. A federal criminal investigation is ongoing, as is a wage claim lawsuit,” the leftist newspaper further alleged.
Although it had been 2 years since the infamous raid on the construction site of Akshardham Mahamandir in 2021 and no charges could be established, The New York Times continued to air the baseless allegations against the temple authorities.
“Even as visitors are making their way to the Robbinsville temple, the treatment of some of the people who worked on its construction is still at issue.When the temple was raided in 2021, dozens of workers were taken from the construction site,” the leftist newspaper alleged.
“Twenty-one temple workers filed a lawsuit that year, though this month, 12 of them pulled out of the suit. Their lawyer, Aaditya Soni, who is based in Jaipur, said in a text message that the workers believe the facts of the case are false and that they decided to pull out based on religious conviction,” it claimed.
No indictment in nearly 3 years & most of the plaintiffs suing the temple over “caste” dropped their suit saying they were coerced with false promises of green cards.
— Suhag A. Shukla (@SuhagAShukla) October 22, 2023
But yeah, @nytimes goes with this headline to belittle the opening of the largest Hindu temple in the country. pic.twitter.com/wWDRfdInDD
The New York Times highlighted the case of one boy who allegedly fell to his death at a construction site in 2017. It also cited a lawyer named Patricia Kakalec, who has now vowed to fight for the labourers involved in the construction of the temple.
The leftist newspaper wrote the propaganda piece, just two days after the grand Akshardham Mahamandir was made open to the public on Wednesday (18th October) by BAPS. The temple in question took 15 years to build and is the largest in the Western Hemisphere.
At a time when scores of Hindu pilgrims are visiting the spectacular temple and immersing themselves in its grandiose, The New York Times sought to sour the occasion with unsubstantiated claims of caste discrimination.
This is however not the first time when it tried to portray Hinduism in a bad light. Earlier in 2021, the newspaper had targeted the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), by falsely claiming that the Hindu sect actively engaged in caste discrimination against Dalit artisans.
On 11th May, 2021, it published an article titled ‘Hindu Sect Is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build N.J. Temple.’
On 10th November 2021, The New York Times wrote an article titled, “Hindu Sect Accused of Using Forced Labor at More Temples Across U.S.” The leftist newspaper also published one guest essay to further propagate the myth of caste discrimination by Hindus in the United States.
Artisans were lured with ‘green cards’ to make false testimony against BAPS
On 13th July this year, over a dozen artisans, who were part of a lawsuit against Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan (BAPS) temple in New Jersey, United States, decided to withdraw their names from the case.
In May 2021, a lawsuit was filed against BAPS in the United States of America alleging forced labour for construction of temple as well as human trafficking. Rajasthan High Court Advocate Aaditya SB Soni has issued a press release on behalf of the artisans under the banner of Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh and Patthar Gadhai Sangh stating the artisans were threatened to be part of the deep-rooted conspiracy to stall the construction of the grand Hindu Temple.
The volunteer stone carving artisans stated that they were made accomplices in the conspiracy but have rebelled against it. They have decided to withdraw from the civil complaint filed in an American court against the Hindu temple.“These artisans have made strong claims that Swati Sawant and her companions impressed upon them and misled them, using false temptations, to make a complaint against the temple management,” the press release read.
#BIGBREAKING: 🧵
— CoHNA (Coalition of Hindus of North America) (@CoHNAOfficial) July 15, 2023
Remember the case against @BAPS Hindu temple in 2021 that alleged "caste discrimination"? #JUSTIN: A dozen artisans claim coercion, promise of US citizenship and large sums of money to testify against BAPS, are withdrawing the case. pic.twitter.com/0obQmSm9eL
Notably, these artisans have provided their services for BAPS temples in India and the US for many years. They never experienced any pressure, castism or discrimination during their association with the BAPS temple.
“These artisans have clarified that they were treated with love and respect at the BAPS Swaminarayan temple, where they served and were well cared for. Advocate Aaditya SB Soni stated that the temple provided all support and facilities to these volunteers, including their flight tickets, their stay in the USA, their lodging and boarding, clothes, healthcare and medicines. The temple also provided for their family members in India. The volunteers returned from the USA to India to visit their families regularly, as per their wishes. They would return as per their convenience after spending some time with their families,” the press release added.
Furthermore, Advocate Soni stated in the press release that the artisans were scared to tell the truth as Swati Sawant allegedly warned them that some of their own fellow artisans would report them to the US police and they would be put behind bars if they revealed the truth. She also “convinced them to make false allegations in court, tempting them with promises of American citizenship for them and their families, and huge amounts of money.”
As expected, The New York Times decided to not update their report so that readers who are misled about ‘caste discrimination’ and ‘human trafficking’ by the newspaper can continue to believe the lies.
