'Keep Women Away’: Eiffel Visit Diktat By Modi-Backed Gujarat Hindu Sect Triggers Strike at Paris Landmark

New Delhi: The Eiffel Tower in Paris had to close down on Monday, September 7, after staff went on strike in protest against the removal of women employees during a private visit by a Hindu delegation over the weekend, French reports have said.

France24 reported that the visit by the team from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) to the iconic site came during the consecration of its first major temple in France on September 6.

Modi and BAPS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had publicly congratulated the BAPS on this in a video message shot especially for the occasion, describing it as a significant addition to India’s cultural presence in Europe and a new chapter in India-France relations.

“Through BAPS, when temples are inaugurated in different countries, the ancient thoughts of India and human values also go hand in hand,” Modi said.

BAPS is a denomination of the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism that was established in Gujarat in the 19th century.

At the inauguration of the BAPS temple in Abu Dhabi in 2024, Modi described his relationship with Pramukh Swami as “akin to that of a father and son”, saying he had continued to receive his guidance while serving as Gujarat chief minister and prime minister.

Modi has also repeatedly promoted BAPS’s temple-building projects, particularly those outside India.

He launched the BAPS Hindu Mandir project in Abu Dhabi in 2018 and inaugurated the completed temple in 2024. At the inauguration, he said the UAE temple was the fulfilment of Pramukh Swami’s dream and praised BAPS for building temples around the world. In December 2024, he said BAPS’s work was strengthening “India’s potential and influence in the world” and described its temples as “the cultural reflection of India”. He has now similarly presented the Paris temple as a milestone in India-France cultural ties.

DD News has claimed that the BAPS Swaminarayan Hindu Mandir in Bussy-Saint-Georges in Seine-et-Marne is France’s first traditionally designed stone Hindu temple and is regarded as the largest of its kind in mainland Europe.

'Limit interactions with women'

Meanwhile, the operating company that runs the Eiffel Tower, SETE, told local French news outlets that the delegation had requested that the visit be organised in such a way as to limit "interactions with women".

"We are going to shed light on what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions," SETE president Ariel Weil, who is also an elected official in Paris, told the news agency AFP.

Euronews reported that the delegation was close to a 100 people. It quoted Diane Davoine, a union representative, as having said that women workers had been "moved away from their workstations as the delegation passed by" during the BAPS visit.

A statement issued by staff said that they were shocked to be put in such a situation, adding:

"Instructions were given to female employees of the Eiffel Tower and to female employees of contractors to make themselves invisible in order to welcome this delegation."

They also write:

"Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present."

BAPS has responded with a tweeted statement, through their French account @BAPSParis, saying it takes the concerns "seriously" and "wish[es] to offer...sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by this situation."

It has added, "To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower."

It also said that given the size of the delegation, "the visit was organized in coordination with the Eiffel Tower teams, at the start of normal opening hours, in order to limit as much as possible any disruption for other visitors." It is unclear if the group aimed to connect this fact with the removal of women employees.

'Unacceptable': Negative reactions from French leaders across the spectrum

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire is among politicians who have expressed support for the strike. He called the move "unacceptable" and contrary to the "values that the Eiffel Tower stands for".

French equality minister Aurore Bergé joined him and wrote on X: "In France, we do not ask women to erase themselves. No dogma, no religion is above the laws of the Republic."

"In France, equality between women and men is neither negotiable nor variable. It is a principle and it allows no exceptions."

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and former prime minister Gabriel Attal also wrote similar comments on X. Le Pen, a frontrunner to run the country, wrote: "In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be "limited." All light must be shed on what happened during this visit to the Eiffel Tower."

President of regional council of of Île-de-France, Valérie Pécresse wrote she was "shocked" to learn of the incident. "I personally informed the representatives of BAPS in France that such practices are contrary to the laws of the Republic."

Former prime minister and current Paris MP Michel Barnier called it "utterly unacceptable that an order aimed at making women disappear from this space could have been issued."

"In France, it is not practices from elsewhere that dictate to women how to dress or exist in public spaces. Women are not hidden. They are not erased. They are respected, and their freedom is defended."

National Assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet also condemned the incident, saying that welcoming others “never means giving up our values” and that in France “women are fully present in public life”.

The controversy has also drawn a response from the Indian government.

At the media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We are aware of the opening of the temple of BAPS in Paris. As to the particular issue, this is a matter purely between the entities concerned.”

The ministry did not offer any further comment on the allegations concerning the treatment of women employees at the Eiffel Tower.

When asked whether India was now distancing itself even though the Indian PM had participated in the inauguration, Jaiswal stated, “It is a common practice for [the] prime minister to convey his good wishes on such occasions. In this case it was done virtually. There is no cause for any comment in this regard”.

BAPS’s Paris account, meanwhile, made its first post after its apology by highlighting a women’s convention held at its temple in France.

The post, dated September 7, described the event as a “Women’s Convention” featuring “Kirtan Aradhana”, or devotional music, and said it was an afternoon dedicated to “devotional music, reflection, and sincere spiritual expression”. The account also shared a video showing women attending the event at the BAPS temple.

Separately, Vishal V. Sharma, India’s ambassador and permanent representative to UNESCO in Paris, posted on X praising BAPS’s humanitarian work in Ukraine. Sharma wrote, “#BAPS involved in humanitarian aide in #Ukraine. Service to humanity is above all. #SewaParamoDharmah”.

He attached a 2022 post in which he had praised humanitarian assistance and food distribution by BAPS volunteers to people in Ukraine. Sharma did not refer to the Eiffel Tower controversy in his post.

Last year in October, women journalists were conspicuously not invited to the media briefing of the visiting Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who had been on a first-ever trip by a Taliban foreign minister to India. Two days later, facing women journalists seated in the front rows in a hastily convened separate press conference, Muttaqi had insisted the omission was due to “short notice.”

Six Dalit workers from Rajasthan had in May 2021 filed a class action lawsuit accusing BAPS and its agents of confiscating their passports and those of some 200 other ‘similarly situated’ workers, confining them to its US temple premises, making them work for over 87 hours a week and paying them a salary well below the minimum wage.

Note: This report has been updated with the MEA's reaction.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.