Dalits lured from India to build US temple paid $1.2/hour for years

NEW YORK: Hundreds of marginalised workers from India were recruited to build a massive Hindu temple in New Jersey where they were forced to work long hours for low pay in violation of US labour and immigration laws, according to lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

The lawsuit filed in US district court in Newark says more than 200 workers were coerced into signing employment agreements in India. They travelled to New Jersey under R-1 visas, which are meant for “those who work in religious vocations or occupations,” according to the lawsuit.

When they arrived, the lawsuit says, their passports were taken away by their employer, Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, or BAPS, and they were forced to work at the temple from 6.30 am to 7.30 pm with few days off, for about $450 per month a rate that the suit said came out to around $1.20 per hour. Of that, the workers allegedly only received $50 in cash per month, with the rest deposited into their accounts in India.

According to the lawsuit, the exploited workers were Dalits

BAPS CEO Kanu Patel, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said, “I respectfully disagree with the wage claim.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has close ties to the organisation.

On Tuesday, FBI agents visited the sprawling ornate temple in rural Robbinsville, just east of Trenton. “We were there on court-authorised law enforcement activity,” Doreen Holder, an FBI spokeswoman said.