Eiffel Tower shut after Hindu group's visit triggers uproar

The Eiffel Tower was closed for a day on Monday after its staff went on strike over female employees being "moved away" for a visit by a Hindu religious group, according to the iconic Paris monument's management and staff. The incident that triggered the strike took place on Saturday during a visit by around 100 people associated with BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam) Swaminarayan Sanstha, Euronews reported.

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." Diane Davoine, a union representative in France, said in a statement that female workers had been "moved away from their workstations as the delegation passed by".

Eiffel Tower employees condemned what they described as "professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex", the report said.

In a statement issued by the CGT trade union, the staff condemned “workplace instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible on the basis of their gender”. “Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas.

In some posts they were replaced by men,” according to the statement quoted by France24. “And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present.” The popular tourist hub in the French capital, which witnesses nearly seven million visitors a year, opened as usual on Tuesday, after the operating company, Societe d’Exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), acknowledged that limited “interactions with women” had been requested by a BAPS delegation, and that the “conditions should not have been accepted”.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said the Eiffel Tower staff’s anger was legitimate, called the reported conditions unacceptable and said an investigation would be launched to establish what happened. “I am taking note of the anger expressed by the employees of the Eiffel Tower, and I want to tell them that their discontent is legitimate,” Gregoire said on X. “It is not acceptable that such conditions can be tolerated.

These are neither my values, nor those that the Eiffel Tower should uphold, where everyone - regardless of gender - should be able to move about and act freely, without distinction between women and men. It is urgent that full light be shed on the facts that led to this mobilisation.”

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