A video has been doing the rounds in internet where propogaters of the Swaminarayan sect, through a book and a series of videos have been stating false and concocted information and claiming that their deity Swaminarayan is above all Gods worshipped in Hinduism namely Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva & Goddess Durga.
This video has enraged the Hindus and they took to Twitter to protest against these claims of the Swaminarayan sect. #SwamiNarayanInsultsHindus was seen trending on twitter for hours where Internet Hindus circulated the video that has gone viral. 

Sharam aani chahiye aisi galat cheezein failate hue. Humare devo ka apmaan karte hain yeh log, aur fir bhi kuch log inhe pujte hai. Aiso ka toh bahiskaar karna chahiye Puri tarah se pic.twitter.com/fmIJHcWsqH

? ?????? ?????? (@KuldeepKadyan) May 10, 2021

In the video, we can see Swami Avimukteshwarand Saraswati Maharaj, chief disciple & communication head of Shankaracharya Swaroopanand ji Maharaj, one of the prominent saints of India and Hinduism,  talking about how there is a book written in Gujarati by the Swami Narayan sect named 'Sarvoparishri Swaminarayan Bhagwaan Part 2'. Page number 227 of the book has a picture in which, we can see a swami sitting under a tree, and Lord Shiva and Parvati are bowing down to the swami. The book also contains misleading information about Swaminarayan being bigger than all other Hindu Gods and these Gods are all different avatars of Swaminarayan, which is a false claim made by his sect deitys. It further also states that Hindu shastras do not mention Swaminarayan as a God anywhere. In other words the claim of Swaminarayan being bigger is a false claim being made by his sect people ans deitys. Since the Sanatan Shashtras don't mention Swaminarayan anywhere, all these claims made by the claim prove to be baseless. 

People trending #SwamiNarayanInsultsHindus on twitter also mentioned the latest incident where The New York Times exposed the misdeeds being carried out by the Swaminarayan temples in USA. Dalit workers from India were being lured and bought to USA, confined to the temple grounds and forced to work for $1 a hour. 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/indian-workers-allege-shocking-violations-building-hindu-temple-new-jersey-2021-05-11/

This is not the first time where the sect has fallen into a scandal. There are various scandals in the past associated with the Swaminarayan sect.
In one of such incidents, a youth had once commited suicide in Naroda, Ahmedabad. It was revealed that he had committed suicide due to money laundering. Case was also registered against the accused Swami Amritdasji of Swaminarayan Gurukul, Vadtal. 

In another incident, one of the disciples of Swaminarayan, while answering a question asked by a disciple about if he (disciple) can continue worshipping Mataji and put her picture next to Swami Narayan, he had replied about how Mataji had got her powers from Swami Narayan himself. In a shocking reply demeaning Mataji, he had said how crore of women like her have gained powers due to Swami Narayan and their pictures should be kept somewhere at the side and not along with Swami Narayan. Further he stated how all Hindu Goddesses are daasis (slaves) of Gods. The Gujarat crime branch in one incident had once seized fake notes worth 1.26cr from the Swami Narayan ashram in Ambav village of Kheda district. 

This doesn't end here, there have been a lot of molestation and sexual misconduct by the Swaminarayan sect. In a recent incident that took place inside the premises of the temple, the Chairman of the temple followed a sadhvi and shot a video of her attending nature?s call. The video was then circulated all over and the incident has come in the open putting a question mark on the safety of the Sadhvis and female members of the temple trust.  
Another controversy surrounding the association was that of Ghanshyam Prakashdas Shastri Swami, the founder of the Kandari Gurukul and the chief treasurer of the Laxminarayan Dev temple, the Swaminarayan temple of Vadtal. He had been seriously accused by one of his disciples that of taking sexual advantage of him for about 40-50 times against his will.In the year 2013, the victim Vedanta Vallabhdas swami, after completing his education came to Kandari Gurukul where he was introduced to Ghanshyam Prakashdas Shastri. On many occasions Shastri called the victim to his room and made him take off this clothes and sexually harassed him against his will, committing an act against nature with him. In addition to this, in another incident, A 60 year old swami of the Swaminarayan sect ran away with a 16 year old minor girl. There have been many more such incidents where female saints of the sect have been insulted, degraded and misbehaved with. 

With such scandals and incidents rising, it is important that such sects and their activities are banned permanently. No one should be allowed to defame Hindus and Hindu Gods. There needs to be legal action against people and sects indulging in such activities so that it stops.

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