CHICAGO: A deep-rooted conspiracy to stall the construction of a grand Hindu Mandir in America has been exposed recently. Rajasthan High Court Advocate Hemant Nahta and Aaditya SB Soni, announcing this through the labor unions Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh and Patthar Gadhai Sangh, declared that some religious stone-carving artisans have come forward to state that a Hindu temple in America has been the target of an international conspiracy against Hindu faith and Indian culture.
These religious volunteer artisans were made accomplices in the conspiracy but have rebelled against it. Many of the artisans have decided to withdraw from the civil complaint filed in an American court against the Hindu temple.
Rajasthan High Court Advocate Aaditya SB Soni stated that he is making this statement as the authorized advocate on behalf of more than 25 clients, all of whom are artisans. These artisans have served as volunteers for religious stone work at the BAPS Hindu Mandir being built in Robbinsville town of New Jersey state in USA. Some 12 of these volunteers were pressured to join as plaintiffs in a civil complaint in the New Jersey court. Based on the complaint, FBI entered the temple premises on May 11, 2021, to take away these allegedly ‘human trafficked’ volunteers with them.
The police took away 110 out of the 134 artisan volunteers from the temple site. Some of these artisan volunteers have now contacted Advocate Aaditya SB Soni and informed him that an Advocate in the USA named Swati Sawant had misled them into making the complaint and so they now want to withdraw from it. 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.
These artisans have been rendering their services for such BAPS temples, in India and in the USA, for many years. In all this time, they have never experienced any pressure, any casteism or discrimination at BAPS temples. These artisans volunteered enthusiastically to go to America to help in carving and building the temple, of their own accord, considering this to be their service to God and country.
These artisans have clarified that they were treated with love and respect at the BAPS Swaminaryan temple where they served, and were well taken care of. Advocate Aadittya SB Soni stated that the temple provided all support and facilities to these volunteers, including their flight tickets, their stay in USA, their lodging and boarding, clothes, healthcare and medicines. Their family members in India were also provided for by the temple.
The volunteers used to return from USA to India to visit their families regularly, as per their wish, and would return as per their convenience after spending some time with their families.
Aaditya SB Soni has stated that the artisans were too afraid to tell the truth because they were warned that Swati Sawant and some of their own fellow artisans would report them to the American police and they would be put behind bars if they revealed the truth. Swati Sawant 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.
On May 11, 2021, many artisans went with the FBI due to the temptations, but when they came to know that they will need to make false allegations against the temple, they had second thoughts. They realized that they were caught in a conspiracy and wished to go back home. Their families in India were worried about them and were calling them home. Some of them gathered the courage to leave the FBI’s custody and return home, even though Swati Sawant insisted for them to stay and repeated her offer of American citizenship and money for them. Advocate Sawant also called their families in India to make them force the artisans to stay in the US. But by this time the artisans had realized the truth and contacted lawyer Aaditya SB Soni for his help.
Some of the artisans who had filed a false case against the temple in civil courts also realized that they had been misled. A dozen of these ‘plaintiffs’ decided to withdraw their complaint and to remove their names from the case, and asked Aaditya Soni for his help to inform the American courts and attorneys. The artisans have now withdrawn from the case, and have voluntarily withdrawn their claims in the court. Though their previous attorneys were informed three weeks ago, they are yet to submit this withdrawal to the court.
Notarized affidavits, videotaped interviews and statements given by the volunteer artisans in the presence of advocates support and are proof of the above report.
With the aim of protecting the interests of stone artisans of Rajasthan, the ‘Indian Stone Artisans and Construction Workers Association’ (also known as ‘Bharatiya Patthar Ghadaievam Nirman Mazdoor Sangh’) is functioning under the aegis of the world’s largest labor union, ‘Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh,’ (BMS) It has 6.2 million members.
This press release is regarding a lawsuit that has been instituted claiming to represent stone artisans and filed against a Hindu temple in the USA. It is an important reality that should be highlighted in your media.
As an advocate of these stone artisans, Shri Hemant Nahta (senior lawyer, Rajasthan High Court, India) and his associate lawyer Aditya SB Soni (lawyer, Rajasthan High Court, India and legal advisor to the BHGNMS), have brought out these important facts protecting the interest of their client stone artisans.
On behalf of
Bharatiya Patthar Ghadaievam Nirman Mazdoor Sangh
Prabhuram Meena and Rewa Shankar
Contact: Rewa Shankar ji: bhgnms@gma
India Post News Service
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