Six Pandits Sent Back to India, More Expected

March 18, 2014
Pam Credille
Ottumwa Post

FAIRFIELD, IA – Six Pandits returned to India following the riot on their campus on March 11, 2014. The riot was a result of a Pandit leader being removed from campus with the help of the Jefferson County Sheriff. As a result of the riot, the leader was not taken from the Global Country of World Peace campus. However, he and five others were the six who flew back to India on Saturday via the Chicago- O’Hare Airport. The Representative for the Global Country of World Peace, William Goldstein, told The Post that all six Pandits volunteered to return to India.

“This group volunteered to return on Saturday. We suspect some of them may have been involved in the incident on Tuesday and we have come to similar conclusions as to others who will be taken to Chicago over the course of the next seven days,” said Goldstein.

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a pandit is as follows: "a wise or learned man in India —often used as an honorary title." The Global Country of World Peace (GCWP) is the Pandits’ sponsor organization. According to their website, the GCWP’s mission is to “support the Vedic Pandits in maharishi Vedic City to create invincibility for America.”

Goldstein told The Post that the situation is still being investigated and further action is expected.

“An internal review of the situation is continuing with the aim to avoid any such repeat incidents. It is expected that additional Pandits involved in this incident will be requested to return to India this week,” said Goldstein.

Goldstein went on to share that the Pandits in Fairfield are on tours that last for two to three years. According to Goldstein, all Pandits return to India at the end of their tour.

“Other than this incident, a very small number have been sent home for disciplinary reasons prior to their normal tour over the last seven years of the project,” said Goldstein.

The Pandit program has been in place in Fairfield for a total of seven years. During that time, thousands of Pandits have taken part in the program.

“Over 2,600 Pandits have come to Iowa to participate in this unprecedented cultural exchange approved by the governmental authorities which involves the Pandits engaging full time in daily group meditation, Vedic performances and Vedic study. Pandits normally come for two to three year tours and return to India, and often, after a leave to their homes in India, return to the Iowa facility for an additional tour,” said Goldstein.

Below is a FAQ’s Guide Provided to The Post from Goldstein

Is there reason for people in the area to fear for their safety?

This unprecedented and short-lived outbreak of rock throwing by a group of approximately 40 Pandits of the 350 currently on the campus was the first, and we trust the last, such episode in the 7 years of the project. It was not aimed at citizens of Jefferson County and was not based in any animus they feel to anyone here. They were upset that their leader was without notice being removed from their midst in their view by the Sheriff, and this upset those in the group who were closest to him and they reacted to the Sheriff’s presence for that reason alone. They are a very closely knit group of “brothers,” as they have lived and studied together in their campuses in India in some cases for over 15 years and have travelled here together.
For these reasons, we do not feel there is any reason of concern for one’s safety. We are addressing the cause of the reaction and if we need to remove a Pandit going forward, as we might on occasion have to do, we will first allow everyone to say their good-byes to their brother.

Are the Pandits free to come and go from their fenced campus?

There is a security fence around the perimeter of the campus with several gates, but it is quite “porous” and the Pandits come and go for walks outside the perimeter every day, weather permitting, as they please. The fence is more intended to keep outsiders out than the insiders in. Virtually every Sunday, visitors who wish to come on the campus and experience the Pandits in their Vedic performances are welcome, but other visits are discouraged to avoid distracting the Pandits from their program.

The Pandits are used to being in a closed campus as that is the life they have committed to live in the “Ashrams” in India where they engage in their spiritual vocation and study. The campus here is designed to mirror and support that same lifestyle of complete dedication to Vedic study, meditation and Vedic performances. The Pandits understand this and have taken oaths and signed agreements committing themselves to this lifestyle. It is different from the lifestyle that most of us are accustomed to, but we seek to respect and support it as best we can with as few distractions as possible. Occasional trips off campus are taken by the group and as needed for medical care or other essential needs and for field trips. But the campus is quite self-sufficient and well equipped, having been constructed in the last seven years, with its cafeteria, exercise hall, cricket fields, study halls, medical dispensary where two M.D.s and a nurse take care of their medical needs, and their two to ten-bedroom modular homes. The Pandits understand they have not come here to be tourists, but just to continue to engage in the program they do in India, to help foster World Peace.


Are they being paid properly? Is that why they acted in this way?

The Pandits are provided $200 per month in cash compensation and are provided all their needs, i.e., room, board, medical care, incidentals, travel and bonuses on an agreed basis. Of this $200, $50 is provided in cash to the Pandit and the balance is sent to their account in India that their family can access. This $200 is the compensation they agreed to in writing upon coming here and the terms the USCIS-approved Visa Petition provided for. It is higher than the cash compensation they receive in India. In the last year the Indian rupee has declined in value in comparison to the dollar and this, along with inflation in India, has caused some concern amongst the Pandits. We are seeking to address this situation by obtaining more support from the donors who entirely support this project and are hoping we can provide for additional increases. However, this was not the reason for this incident. It had nothing to do with compensation as noted above and our review of the situation has confirmed this.
http://www.ottumwaeveningpost.com/9470/69149/a/six-pandits-sent-back-to-india-more-expected

Missing Pandit Brutally Killed

August 30, 2014
hi INDiA

CHICAGO (IL) — Nobody knows. Nobody cares. Well, Hi India was right when it published an article on the sorry plight of Vedic Pandits in its January 24, 2014 edition.

Ajit Panday, aged around 23 years, has been shot dead by an unknown suspect at Big Brother 2 Food Mart on 878 Norwood Road, Southeast Atlanta, Georgia.

Ajit was gunned down late in the night on August 24 as he approached the main gate to close for the day around 10 p.m.. He was found dead, with multiple gunshots, near the front door by the owner of the store – Poltu Roy.

Though Poltu Roy said store closed at 10 pm, the video recording of murder shows the time as 11.28 pm.

Ajit, a native of India, was brought to the US by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi University at Fairfield , Iowa, more than two years ago. Ajit had left O’Hare airport in March to flee and wander into the strange world to find his living.

Missing Pandit was Brutally Killed

Hi India Live

September 3, 2014

CHICAGO (IL) — Nobody knows. Nobody cares. Well, Hi India was right when it published an article on the sorry plight of Vedic Pandits in its January 24, 2014 edition. Ajit Panday, aged around 23 years, has been shot dead by an unknown suspect at Big Brother 2 Food Mart on 878 Norwood Road, Southeast Atlanta, Georgia.

Ajit was gunned down late in the night on August 24 as he approached the main gate to close for the day around 10 p.m.. He was found dead, with multiple gunshots, near the front door by the owner of the store – Poltu Roy.
Though Poltu Roy said store closed at 10 pm, the video recording of murder shows the time as 11.28 pm.

Ajit, a native of India, was brought to the US by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi University at Fairfield , Iowa, more than two years ago. Ajit had left O’Hare airport in March to flee and wander into the strange world to find his living.

All this is done to obtain more profit at the cost of life of people like Ajit Panday. In their brazen statements, Poltu Roy and Guru Chand shrugged off responsibility by informing that they had cautioned Ajit Panday to be careful in night time–no other measures were taken–though as per him, Ajit was only volunteering.

Ajit was working in the store for more than two months and was working from 8 am when it opened till the closing time of 11 p.m.–more than 15 hours a day–all the seven days of week. No proper food, sanitation or security was provided at the backroom, where Ajit was lodged after work. In fact, Ajit was housed in in-human conditions with a 15-hours-seven-days-a-week schedule.

The video released by the police/store owner Poltu Roy shows the victim Ajit walking outside to close and lock the security gate on the front door when his attention is drawn away from the building. He freezes in place as the armed robber approaches with his gun raised and forces himself inside.

Ajit was first struck in the face with the gun and after he falls, the gunman shoots him seven times at the door. All the shots were in the upper torso of the body. After that, the murderer is seen scavenging the cash registers, stopping, turning around, and shooting Panday again. After taking money and merchandise, the killer/robber takes to his heels and vanishes into the darkness.

In the South Asian community, there is fear that many more of such incidents of gruesome murders can happen if no Indian governmental action is initiated soon. The community believes that though Ajit is the first casualty that has come to light, there might be many more unknown cases of harassment and other kinds of inhuman treatments meted out to Vedic Pandits somewhere in the US.

While time is ripe for some urgent action by powers that be, it is also strange that despite the Hi India’s expose of the shady happenings in its January 2014 issue, no community leader or community organization has come forward to inquire or show their support to locate and take appropriate action to help Vedic Pandits.

Probably it is not one of those photo opportunities with some political leaders or bigwigs of the Indian government which they can proudly hang in their living rooms and brag about to friends and families. Well, the pathetic conditions of Vedic Pandits do not fit into one of those ‘Who’s Who’ or big names, but there is no doubt that humanity demands that all those attention-seekers come forward and initiate some action.

We can go to prayer places, build big prayer places and get our names engraved on brass plates at the entrance as big donors but let us not forget that ‘Service to mankind is service to God,’ and that being humane is important than self-aggrandizement.

Now is the high time for community to wake up and come forward to support the bereaved family of slain Ajit Panday, whose body was still in mortuary after six days of murder, in want of funds to send his mortal remains to India. Hi India took the initiative and tried reaching to the people concerned with shipping of the last remains of the murdered Ajit Panday to India but everyone of them avoided the direct question and pushed the blame on family in India to send the permission.

The family, which is still in shock after the loss of their eldest child and its only earning member, could not talk properly on phone. Gaur Chand, operator of the convenience store, flatly refused to do anything with it and dis-connected the phone and did not respond to several calls made later on. Poltu Roy, owner of the business and the building, pushed the liability on family to send a clearance. Ajay Prakash Shrivastava, nephew of Mahesh Yogi and head of global operations of the sponsoring University, also passed the buck to the family and said that he could not trace the family though all the information is available in office records.

This story originally appeared on Hi India Live.

http://us.india.com/illinois/missing-pandit-was-brutally-killed-137524/

Only 5 Per Cent Pandits Missing: Maharishi Vedic University

Lalit K Jha
PTI
January 28, 2014

The Iowa-based institutions of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi have said about only five per cent of the 2,600 Vedic pandits, who were brought to the US from north Indian villages, have gone missing in recent years.          

"Each of these cases the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been informed about Vedic pandits leaving their United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and State Department approved programme at its Iowa campus," said William Goldstein, Dean of Global Development and General Counsel to the Maharishi University of Management.      

"Only a small number of the over 2,600 pandits, about five per cent, who have come on this unprecedented Vedic programme to the US have gone AWOL (absent without leave)," Goldstein told PTI in an email.

"For the first four years of this programme, it was a very small number. In recent months this number has been unfortunately increasing," he said.        

He alleged that they appear to have been induced by individuals providing false and bad information of high earnings, or by unscrupulous employers taking advantage of them.

He also denied allegations of mistreatment of the priests, including giving them low wages.  

In an investigative report, Chicago-based ethnic weekly newspaper Hi India alleged that 163 Vedic pandits brought to the US lived in pathetic conditions and were paid less than 75 cents an hour.      

Maharishi Vedic City: Inside the compound with Rekha Basu

March 22, 2014
DesMoines Register

The first time most of us learned hundreds of Hindu Indian priests have been living in Iowa for seven years to advance world peace was after up to 80 of them shook, vandalized and threw rocks at a sheriff’s truck. The media called the March 11 incident a riot. The sheriff calls it a “flash mob.” Some might call it the meaning of irony.

The American devotees of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Fairfield, who brought the priests here for stints of two to three years, call the incident an unprecedented blip. A letter writer to this newspaper called them “uncivilized Third World miscreants,” and some people who have parted ways with the meditators associated with the Maharishi University of Management call the Indian priests victims of human trafficking.

Whatever you call what happened, it was an unfortunate introduction to the community of 350 Indian “pandits” and their purpose here.

Six Pandits Sent Back to India, More Expected

  

By Pam Credille, Managing Editor

FAIRFIELD, IA – Six Pandits returned to India following the riot on their campus on March 11, 2014. The riot was a result of a Pandit leader being removed from campus with the help of the Jefferson County Sheriff. As a result of the riot, the leader was not taken from the Global Country of World Peace campus. However, he and five others were the six who flew back to India on Saturday via the Chicago- O’Hare Airport.

The Representative for the Global Country of World Peace, William Goldstein, told The Post that all six Pandits volunteered to return to India.“This group volunteered to return on Saturday. We suspect some of them may have been involved in the incident on Tuesday and we have come to similar conclusions as to others who will be taken to Chicago over the course of the next seven days,” said Goldstein. 

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of a pandit is as follows: "a wise or learned man in India —often used as an honorary title." The Global Country of World Peace (GCWP) is the Pandits’ sponsor organization. According to their website, the GCWP’s mission is to “support the Vedic Pandits in maharishi Vedic City to create invincibility for America.

”Goldstein told The Post that the situation is still being investigated and further action is expected. “An internal review of the situation is continuing with the aim to avoid any such repeat incidents. It is expected that additional Pandits involved in this incident will be requested to return to India this week,” said Goldstein. Goldstein went on to share that the Pandits in Fairfield are on tours that last for two to three years. According to Goldstein, all Pandits return to India at the end of their tour. “Other than this incident, a very small number have been sent home for disciplinary reasons prior to their normal tour over the last seven years of the project,” said Goldstein.

Dr Girish Varma speaking on the Maharishi Vedic Pandit program

Riot of Indian meditators causes concerns for Fairfield area residents

12 March 2014

Member that triggered riot returned to campus, situation to be 'reviewed'

FAIRFIELD – A riot Tuesday morning near Fairfield has raised concerns about a program that has brought thousands of Indian men to Iowa for meditation.

More than 300 men, mostly from India, live in a fenced-off campus adjacent to Vedic City, north of Fairfield. The pandits, pronounced “pundits”, are religious men trained in meditating for peace.

But when program leaders removed one of their members early Tuesday for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, more than 60 men swarmed a law enforcement truck, threw rocks at the sheriff and started a march down a public street.

“I’ve never seen them this incensed before,” said Jefferson County Sheriff Greg Morton, who had been called to the campus to assist with removal of the member. He retreated to his truck when pandits started throwing rocks and witnessed the group break off his side mirrors, rock the truck and throw a rock through the back window.

Pandits treated as employees, some have issues with pay

‘We get less money than we need’

FAIRFIELD – A compound of religious men near Fairfield is similar to a military base with men living in barracks, eating in a mess hall and playing sports when they aren’t working.

But instead of waging war in a foreign land, these pandits, pronounced “pundits,” are paid to meditate for peace.

The Transcendental Meditation (TM) community of Fairfield, home to the Maharishi University of Management (MUM), started bringing pandits from India to southeast Iowa in 2007 to reach a meditation quota the group believes will generate maximum peace and cohesion in the United States.

“If we were able to garner enough people from within our own group, we wouldn’t need this program,” said Bill Goldstein, general counsel for MUM and for the Global Country for World Peace, which runs the pandit program.

Only 5% pandits missing: Maharishi vedic university

Times of India
January 28, 2014

WASHINGTON: The Iowa-based institutions of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi have said about only five per cent of the 2,600 vedic pandits, who were brought to the US from north Indian villages, have gone missing in recent years.

"Each of these cases the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been informed about vedic pandits leaving their United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and State Department approved programme at its Iowa campus," said William Goldstein, Dean of Global Development and General Counsel to the Maharishi University of Management.


"Only a small number of the over 2,600 pandits, about five per cent, who have come on this unprecedented vedic programme to the US have gone AWOL (absent without leave)," Goldstein said in an email.

"For the first four years of this programme, it was a very small number. In recent months this number has been unfortunately increasing," he said.

He alleged that they appear to have been induced by individuals providing false and bad information of high earnings, or by unscrupulous employers taking advantage of them.

He also denied allegations of mistreatment of the priests, including giving them low wages.

In an investigative report, Chicago-based ethnic weekly newspaper Hi India alleged that 163 vedic pandits brought to the US lived in pathetic conditions and were paid less than 75 cents an hour.

Goldstein claimed that these pandits come to the US under R-1 visas and thus are not subject to the minimum wage rules.

"They are on R-1 visas. They are not in possession of a visa to be day labourers nor are they equipped to be such. Their visa only entitles them, and they are solely qualified to engage in, their spiritual vocation of meditation and vedic performances," he said.

"They are not subject to minimum wage laws in this spiritual or ministerial vocation, like monks in a monastery," said the official from Maharishi University of Management. The Iowa campus has been specifically inspected and approved for this precise purpose by USCIS, for use as a site for R-1 pandits," he said.

Denying allegations that pandits brought to the US are underage, he said, "No pandit has ever come on the programme under 18 years of age."

He said that it has been agreed with the pandits that of the USD 200 per month base cash compensation, USD 150 will be transmitted to their families in India.

All the pandits, contrary to the allegations, reside in modern, fully heated and air-conditioned comfortable modular homes, with an indoor and outdoor athletic facility and a large organic vegetarian kitchen and cafeteria, along with their meditation halls, classrooms, and Vedic performance halls, he said.