Paris: The world-renowned Eiffel Tower in France was shut on Monday, September 7, after its staff reportedly went on strike over female workers being asked “to be made invisible” from the site to accommodate a delegation of a Hindu religious group from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
According to a BBC report, a delegation of about 100 people linked to BAPS, including its president and guru Mahant Swami Maharaj, visited the Eiffel Tower last week, on September 5. Staff union representative Diane Davoine told the BBC that women workers were “moved away from their workstations” as the men passed by.
The visit left staff members angry, leading to the monument’s closure on Monday. The staff union’s statement said that some women were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas, while in some posts, they were replaced by men.
Davoine told Reuters that, due to mounting tensions, the employees decided to meet first, open a dialogue with management and ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again.
According to a report by the French newspaper Le Monde, the Eiffel Tower staff “condemned” professional instructions that led to female employees being “sidelined, replaced, and made invisible because of their sex” during the visit by the BAPS delegation.
The operating company that runs the Paris landmark, SETE, acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be organised to limit “interactions with women” and said that “these conditions should not have been accepted”.
Signs at the base of the tower on Monday read, “The opening of the Eiffel Tower is delayed for operational reasons,” Reuters reported. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said that an investigation would be launched “as soon as possible.” In a post on social media platform X, the mayor said he was aware of the employees’ anger and agreed their dissatisfaction was legitimate.
When asked about the controversy, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing in New Delhi: “We are aware of the opening of a temple by the BAPS Sanstha in the Paris area. As to the particular issue pertaining to the Tower, this is a matter purely between the entities concerned.”
BAPS responds
Amid controversy, BAPS responded, saying it has taken the concerns “very seriously” and that, to the best of its knowledge, no one was denied access to the Eiffel Tower.
“We understand the concerns expressed and take them very seriously,” wrote BAPS Mandir Swaminarayan Hindou de Paris on X.
It said that given the size of the delegation, the visit was organised with the Eiffel Tower teams at the start of normal opening hours “to limit as much as possible any disruption for other visitors,” adding, “to our knowledge, at no time was access to the Eiffel Tower denied to anyone.”
“Nevertheless, we wish to offer sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by this situation,” the post read.
The group said it is deeply committed to universal values of mutual respect and service to others and respects the concerns raised.
What is BAPS?
The Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), according to its website, has described itself as a ‘socio-spiritual Hindu faith with its roots in the Vedas’.
“It was revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) in the late 18th century and established in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951). Founded on the pillars of practical spirituality, the BAPS reaches out far and wide to address the spiritual, moral and social challenges and issues we face in our world,” it states.
The incident, however, has not gone down well in France. Le Monde, in its report of the incident, said that BAPS is “close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling conservative Hindu nationalist party”.
Notably, the new Paris mandir of BAPS was virtually inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 6 this year
