When media went overboard: The BAPS story

By SATimes Team

 New York: The news of forced labor allegations levelled against prominent humanitarian and religious Hindu organization Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) was splashed by the western media last week. The mandatory FBI visit at the magnificent Robbinsville Mandir in New Jersey gave the Hinduphobic news outlets the ruse to paint not just BAPS but also India in poor light and playing up the caste discrimination angle.

While the labor and immigration violations are apparently done by the construction company which was engaged to supply workers to the Mandir construction site in Mercer County, and the New Jersey Department of Labor had issued a press statement and also tweeted that the action was initiated against the labor contractor, the media went overboard with sensational headlines putting all the blame on the BAPS management.

Though investigations were under way and it remains a developing story, most of the reputed American outlets rushed to judgement and ran with headlines such as, “Hindu Sect accused of using forced labor to construct Hindu temple.” Another mentioned in its coverage that the temple management had been practicing “pervasive discrimination against members of India’s marginalized social castes — even in the United States.”

Not just the biased, anti-India media, Hinduphobic so-called secular voices on social media gave their own imaginative spins linking the BAPS with the BJP-RSS and Narendra Modi false narratives and alleged caste discrimination on US soil. So convenient isn’t it for these armchair critics to blame a global charity active in nine countries across five continents with thousands of their volunteers contributing selfless service for betterment of fellow human beings even without knowing an iota about their work.

High time media be reminded of ‘objectivity’ and social influencers told not to jump the gun and be checked for their biases.

Here is the official statement from BAPS media cell in New Jersey: “We were first made aware of these accusations last week Tuesday. We take each seriously and are conducting a thorough internal review.  These allegations are also part of a pending lawsuit and tied to claims made by the plaintiffs.  Out of respect for the judicial process we will address them in a court of law.”

Image courtesy of (Photo courtesy BAPS)

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