The world renowned Eiffel Tower in France was shut on Monday, September 7, after its staff reportedly went on strike over female workers being removed from site to accommodate the visit of a Hindu religious group from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) that is based in Ahmedabad in India.
According to a BBC report, a delegation of about 100 people linked to BAPS visited the Eiffel Tower last week. Staff union representative Diane Davoine told BBC that as the group arrived at the monument, women were told to move and were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there.
The visit left staff members angry due to which the monument was shut on Monday. It may be noted that the new Paris mandir of BAPS was virtually inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 6 this year.
“Tensions mounted over the weekend, so this morning, the employees decided to meet: first, to open a dialogue with management, and second, to ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again,” Davoie told Reuters.
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, he said he was aware of the employees’ anger and agreed their dissatisfaction was legitimate,” added the Reuters report.
After the incident, Davoine stated that due to tensions mounting, the employees decided to meet and then to open a dialogue with management to 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 delegation. The operating company that runs the Paris landmark, SETE, acknowledged that the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be organized so as to limit “interactions with women” and said that “these conditions should not have been accepted”.
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. The French newspaper Le Monde in its report over the incident stated that BAPS is “close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling conservative Hindu nationalist party”.
This post was last modified on September 8, 2026 8:17 am