The Hourglass 2021-22 Issue I

Design and graphics by Elva Chen‘22
the hourglass | OCTober/NOVember 2021
opinion | 5
Human Trafficking
in New Jersey
When I first walked into the temple, I remarked at its elegance and artistry, but
now I see the true abuse hidden beneath the polished marble grace.
AVANI SHAH-LIPMAN ‘25
Staff Writer
Afew months ago, my grandmother excitedly
called me and my cousins and told us we would
be joining her on a visit to the Bochasanwasi
Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha
(BAPS) Temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey. Her
enthusiasm wasn’t due to the religious meaning behind
the temple, but rather the beautiful and detailed marble
structures in and around it.
Upon our arrival, we noticed many construction
workers continuing to expand the already massive place,
and we couldn’t help but wonder how the ornate pillars
had been carved. After leaving the temple, our thoughts
were occupied by its beauty and the delicious dosas we
ate until my mom said, “Have you heard about that temple
that was built by slaves here a little while ago?”
With a bit of investigation (otherwise known as
a Google search), we realized with shock that she was
referring to the temple we had gone to, which is currently
under FBI investigation for forced labor. With the BAPS
temple front and center in my mind, I knew I needed to
look deeper into its tragic and distressing story.
According to The Independent UK, workers at the
temple “claimed that they worked at the construction site
as far back as 2012,” and came from a very low level of
India’s caste system. If they spoke with people outside
the grounds, the workers “​were threatened with pay cuts,
arrests and return to India.”
Many of these workers spoke no English and had
their passports confiscated when they arrived. They were
earning only $1.20 a day and working over 80 hours a
week. In no way does this abide by New Jersey’s laws,
where minimum wage is $12 an hour and overtime pay
is required for those working more than 40 hours a week.
NJ.com gives us more insight into the living
conditions of the 200 people forced to work at the BAPS
temple. In the lawsuit that the website cites, the workers
came to the US on religious visas, which are “for persons
who want to enter the United States to work temporarily in
religious capacities,” according to travel.gov.
However, the workers weren’t actually working in
religious capacities, just on religious grounds. Allegedly,
they were woken up at 6:30 AM and could only stop at
7:30 PM, with a few brief breaks throughout the day. Their
already minimal pay could be seized for minor offenses
such as forgetting to wear their helmets, “idling, smoking
or ‘otherwise not acting in accordance with temple rules.”
Even worse, “they had to manage stones that weighed
several tons,” and “were exposed to and breathed dust
from cut stones and chemical solutions used to soak the
stones,” which is very damaging to one’s health.
These circumstances led me to question how
something so terrible could happen right next door for so
long. Masked by intricate, marble works of art, the BAPS
temple had countless skeletons in its closets.
The atrocities committed by the owners of the temple
clearly show how easy it is to hide behind a cloak of beauty.
By using religious visas, they tricked the government
while raking in unethical money. As reported by WHYY.
org, BAPS supported COVID-19 relief in India while
exploiting the lower class in India struggling the most.
Essentially replicating the caste system in India, the BAPS
temple forced the lower class to work in unimaginable
conditions in order to support their struggling families at
home.
It is frightening that something like this could happen
in America, one of the richest countries in the world. I
had no idea that a situation involving human trafficking
could occur in a place that I enjoyed visiting. Knowing
what happened in the BAPS temple encouraged me to look
deeper than the shiny, clean surface. When I first walked
into the temple, I remarked at its elegance and artistry,
but now I see the true abuse hidden beneath the polished
marble grace.