Dear Swaminarayan (Canton, MI) Mandir Coordinator and BAPS Leaders,

We are writing to you on behalf of current and former South Asian, Hindu, and Swaminarayan community members of the metro Detroit area. The recent news of Swaminarayan Temple of Canton community member and leader, Shailesh Patel, and his sexual abuse of young girls over the past several years was shocking and horrific. For us, and thousands of Hindu devotees in the metro Detroit area, our temples have always been a place to seek peace, prayer, reflection and safety. We demand immediate action from BAPS leaders to restore this safety and peace back to the Temple community. Our demands reflect the appropriate response to sexual abuse and trauma inflicted upon children and in the community consistent with professional medical and child development experts' recommendations:

1. Immediately and publicly condemn the horrible actions of your Temple member and leader, Shailesh Patel, discuss the impacts of his actions, and document specific action steps in your board and community meetings to restore safety back to the temple community.
2. Issue a public apology to the victims and their families acknowledging that the sexually abusive acts also happened on Temple grounds and the community failed to protect them.
3. Allocate funds for the victims of Shailesh Patel to pay for ongoing trauma therapy. The victims will undoubtedly suffer and struggle as a result of this man’s actions for many years to come. Reach out to the victims and their families to offer spiritual support and guidance.
4. Explicitly teach children in your youth group classes about safety, signs of sexual and emotional abuse, identification of trusted adults, and what to do if and when you feel unsafe. 
5. Seek to partner with skilled mental health professionals to facilitate an open dialogue and offer support to any other victims, their families, and the community at large.
6. Address the larger Swaminarayan Temple community by acknowledging and condemning Shailesh Patel’s actions. Clearly and intentionally articulate that there will be a zero-tolerance policy for abuse, bullying, and inappropriate treatment of women and girls at the Temple and in the community. We must all work to keep our women and children safe from hate and harm.

Finally, we demand a response to these questions in writing immediately:

1. What will you do to address what happened with the Swaminarayan Temple community and ensure that all women and children are safe at the temple?
2. How will you educate adults, particularly men in your temple community, such that there is a zero-tolerance policy for abuse of any kind in the Temple community?
3. How will you reach out to medical experts in childhood trauma and abuse to build awareness and knowledge for Swaminarayan Temple parents and children so that this does not happen again?
4. How will you seek the trust and inclusion of female community members to ensure their safety at the Swaminarayan Temple moving forward?

For too long, our community has ignored the suffering and abuse of our women and girls. We will not tolerate this any longer and will take our demands public if response and action are not taken by BAPS leadership. We ask that you do the right thing and join us in our fight to uplift and protect the safety of all of our community members so that the Swaminarayan Temple of Canton can once again be a pillar of safety in our community.