Hindu Trust, Accused of Labour Violations in US, Once Filed Case Against Temple Entry for Dalits
The organisation facing a suit in the US for violating labour laws by underpaying workers engaged in the construction of a temple in New Jersey – many of them Dalits – was also involved in a controversial court case in India seven decades ago that sought an injunction preventing non-Satsangi Dalits from entering the Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad.
On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that the Swaminarayan temple in New Jersey, run by the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), has been accused of taking a large number of stonecutters and other construction workers from India by falsely classifying them as religious workers and volunteers and then making them work there at a tenth of the prescribed minimum wage….
Many decades ago, on January 12, 1948, the followers of the Swaminarayan sect, which was then led by Shastriji Maharaj – the founder of BAPS – filed a suit in an Ahmedabad civil court seeking an injunction against Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya, who was the president of the Maha Gujarat Dalit Sangh, from entering the temple….