Whatever you call what happened, it was an unfortunate introduction to the community of 350 Indian “pandits” and their purpose here. Curious about what could have provoked purveyors of peace to such disruptive measures, I spent a couple of days last week in Fairfield and nearby Maharishi Vedic City, the municipality where the pandits live — in a large, fenced-in compound out of view. I toured it, talked to leaders of the program, members of the Fairfield community and local, state and federal officials.
“Maharishi saw that America plays a leading part in the fate of people around the world, so we should bring large groups of pandits to America to make sure America stays on the track of world peace,” said Bill Goldstein, dean of Global Country and the legal counsel for the Fairfield university. He launched the program with donated funds — he didn’t reveal the budget — hoping to bring in as many as 1,200 priests for 30-month stays.
The priests get room and meals plus a mere $200 a month, $150 of which is deposited in Indian bank accounts for their families. Administrators say that was decided by program heads in India. The priests have placed makeshift barriers from the cold or sun over their shadeless windows. They have a recreation space, prayer centers and a courtyard where they play cricket. They have no access to the Internet or cellphone communications (they buy prepaid calling cards to phone home) and their TV viewing choices are limited to Indian news programs via satellite in a common area.
[For more details from this investigative piece see ‘source’ above. The Pandits are in the US on the Religious Worker Visa Progam.]