Tag: religion

FBI Raids Largest Hindu Temple In US Over Human Trafficking Allegations

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided a temple in New Jersey Tuesday after allegations that a Hindu sect lured hundreds of low-caste men from India to work on the building’s construction for about $1 per hour under grueling conditions, numerous sources reported. 

At least 200 low-caste men are involved in a lawsuit that accused Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, a Hindu sect known as BAPS, of exploiting the men at the Robbinesville site, according to CBS. 

Lawyers representing the men said they worked nearly 13 hours per day and did intense manual labor like building roads and digging ditches for roughly $450 per month, according to The New York Times. They were allegedly forbidden from speaking to visitors and religious volunteers and were given foods with insignificant nutritional value, like lentils and potatoes. The men also reportedly faced having their pays reduced if they committed minor violations, like not wearing a helmet. 

The lawsuit says the men were promised standard work hours and time off, the Times reported. They lived in trailers on the property and allegedly were not allowed to leave, CBS reported.

“They thought they would have a good job and see America. They didn’t think they would be treated like animals, or like machines that aren’t going to get sick,” Swati Sawant, an immigration lawyer who arranged legal teams to represent the temple workers, according to the Times. 

Most of the men are Dalit, which is the lowest caste in India’s caste system, accoring to the Times. After one man died from an apparent illness in the fall, workers reached out for legal assistance. 

Keep reading

‘F*cking Blasphemy’ — Ricky Gervais Blasts Protests over Teacher Showing Mohammed Cartoon

Comedian Ricky Gervais has joined the chorus of condemnation against the suspension of a British teacher for showing a caricature of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, questioning whether people will be “punished for insulting unicorns” next.

The creator of The Office and famed atheist took to social media on Friday to rail against the Islamic protesters who are calling for the firing of a Batley Grammar School teacher.

“Blasphemy? Fucking Blasphemy? It’s 2021 for fuck’s sake. What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?” Gervais wrote.

Keep reading

UK: Govt Islamophobia Advisor Says Images of Muhammad Should Be as Unacceptable as the N-Word

The UK Government’s Islamophobia advisor has suggested that showing images of Muhammad should be made as socially unacceptable as saying the n-word.

Batley Grammar School in Yorkshire in the north of England faced protests this week from Muslim parents, after one teacher dared to show images of Muhammad during class. The school, which was about to break up for the Easter holidays, had had to switch to remote-learning as a result of the protests. The headteacher “unequivocally apologised” for the actions of the teacher in question, and suspended him, despite the fact that he had received a number of serious death threats from angry Muslims.

However, rather than criticising the actions of the protestors for attacking the free speech of the teacher, Imam Qari Asim MBE, chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB), and the Government’s adviser on Islamophobia, called for a “change in social attitudes” as a result of the protests, and suggested that sharing images of Muhammad should be as socially unacceptable as saying the n-word:

I guess when we talk of a potential curb or limitation on free speech, I think that sets alarm bells ringing, leaving some people [wrongly] thinking that Muslims are asking for restrictions on free speech. But I think what we should try and emphasise is that there’s already a phenomenon in place in that actually there are boundaries to free speech. Like, for instance, people cannot use the ‘n-word’ – and quite rightly so – because this is derogatory and causes deep pain and hurt. I’m not in favour of restriction and curbing or free speech, but I think we already have boundaries based on social norms.

Asim, despite his relations to the government, also is a trustee for the hardcore leftist organisation, Hope not Hate, who regularly engage in attacks on anyone on the right of politics, describing organisations such as Turning Point as being “extreme.”

Keep reading