‘Workers Exploited By BAPS’: Calls For Justice as US Govt Concludes Probe

New Delhi: The US government's decision to conclude its criminal investigation into allegations that the BAPS Hindu denomination exploited workers, many of them Dalit and Adivasi, to build its grand Robbinsville, New Jersey temple is of ‘grave concern’, a coalition of organisations has said.

Demanding justice for the over 200 workers that BAPS or the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha is accused of confining, overworking and underpaying, the organisations including the Dalit Solidarity Forum (DSF) and other bodies under the Savera umbrella group urged a “full investigation” into BAPS's “exploitative recruitment and contracting practices … to ensure accountability for these preventable tragedies”.

Lawyers representing BAPS as well as the workers have indicated in court that the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) has concluded its investigation into the allegations, although the DSF and allied organisations has urged the DOJ to publicly issue a clarification on the status of the case and for Swaminarayan to refrain from issuing statements until that happens.

BAPS is a denomination of the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism that was established in Gujarat in the 19th century. Savera is a US-based ‘interfaith, multiracial and anti-caste’ platform that focuses on “uniting Indian Americans against supremacist politics”.

Six Dalit workers from Rajasthan had in May 2021 filed a class action lawsuit accusing BAPS and its agents of confiscating their passports and those of some 200 other ‘similarly situated’ workers, confining them to its Robbinsville temple premises, making them work for over 87 hours a week and paying them a salary well below the minimum wage.

BAPS, the workers said, hired and brought them to the US under R-1 religious volunteer visas even though the work they did was manual labour in exchange for wages.

Agents of the US federal government had visited the Robbinsville temple premises on the same day the class action civil suit was filed in court.

Later that year, the class action suit was stayed in accordance with US law, which requires that civil proceedings invoking the Trafficking Victims Protection Act must be put on hold if there is a criminal investigation probing the same set of allegations.

While the workers' lawyer had requested the federal district court in New Jersey last month to consider lifting the stay on the civil suit in light of the “extraordinary delay” in the criminal probe – which had entered its fourth year – BAPS's lawyer subsequently told the court that government lawyers had informed him the DOJ had “closed” its investigation.

“… Attorneys for the government have provided counsel for BAPS with further updates on the status of the investigation,” namely that the “DOJ has closed its investigation of BAPS and the other entities and individuals named as defendants in this lawsuit”, Swaminarayan's lawyer said in a court filing.

Earlier this month, the workers' and BAPS' lawyers presented a proposed form of order saying that the DOJ “has concluded its investigation” of the defendants. The court then ordered that the stay on the civil suit be lifted.

The two parties submitted a prospective schedule for BAPS to respond to the workers' amended complaint but the latter's attorney said he disagreed with Swaminarayan's submission that summons be served on two India-based defendants in light of the delay in the case.

The DSF and other organisations in their statement issued on October 1 called on the DOJ to issue a public statement clarifying if the probe is on, closed or requires further action.

When The Wire emailed the office of the US attorney for New Jersey seeking clarity on the case's status, it only received an automated email saying that DOJ operations are “directed toward national security, violations of federal law and essential public safety functions” only in light of the ongoing government shutdown.

The organisations also demanded that political leaders in America “call upon BAPS to take accountability for the mistreatment of these workers” and that labour rights as well as South Asian diaspora groups join them in calling for justice.

In addition to being made to work around 13 hours a day for all seven days of the week in exchange for a dismal $1.2 per hour, the class action suit alleged that the labour the workers were engaged in was “very dangerous” and included exposure to dust from stone-cutting for the temple.

“Exposure to hazardous materials such as silica and other serious health risks has caused the deaths” of at least six workers who were ‘rescued’ from the temple premises in 2021, the DSF said. It added that the “broader impact of respiratory illnesses likely extends well beyond these fatalities, but has not been comprehensively documented.”

“Temples in the US have long served as centres of resilience and community for diaspora populations. Yet, BAPS temple workers were exploited, forced to endure brutal working conditions and subjected to systemic discrimination while building the Robbinsville temple,” the organisations said, appealing to allies to “join us in demanding accountability, reclaiming stolen wages and securing justice for the surviving workers and the families of those who lost their lives”.

Mukesh Singh, the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit and who had returned to India by May 2021, had then said that he and a number of his colleagues came forward after one of their co-workers, Mohan Lal, died while working at the Robbinsville temple.

BAPS personnel retaliated against the workers when they demanded improved working conditions and that Mohan Lal's remains be dealt with in accordance with his religious beliefs as opposed to those of the Swaminarayan sect, the lawsuit alleges.

A number of additional workers joined the class action suit after it was filed, but 12 of them exited the case in October 2023 citing “reasons of religious conviction”.

BAPS's US wing welcomed the DOJ's decision to conclude its investigation.

“The United States government's decision to end this investigation sends a clear and powerful message in support of what our organisation has maintained from the outset: that BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham – a place of peace, service and devotion – was built through the love, dedication and volunteer service of thousands of devotees from all walks of life,” it had said in a statement.

The Robbinsville temple, which is considered one of the world's largest temples, opened to the public after 15 years of work in October 2023.

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