Eiffel Tower shuts after strike over women staff during BAPS visit

London,UPDATED: Sep 8, 2026 16:54 IST

The Eiffel Tower in Paris was closed on Monday after staff went on strike over the reported sidelining of female employees during a visit by a Hindu religious group linked to BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. The monument reopened on Tuesday after its operating company acknowledged that a BAPS delegation had asked for limited 'interactions with women' and said such conditions should not have been accepted.

The row began after a visit on Saturday by around 100 people associated with BAPS, which is in France for the opening of its first major temple in the country. Paris city authorities backed the workers and said an investigation would be launched, while India's External Affairs Ministry said the matter was "purely between the entities concerned".

Diane Davoine, a union representative in France, said female workers had been "moved away from their workstations as the delegation passed by". In a statement, the CGT trade union said employees were protesting "workplace instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible on the basis of their gender". It said some women were asked to leave their posts and move to other areas, some were replaced by men, and all female employees were told not to pass through certain areas while the delegation was present.

The Eiffel Tower, which receives nearly seven million visitors a year, opened as usual on Tuesday. SETE, the company that runs the landmark, said it recognised that requests for limited interactions with women had been made by a BAPS delegation and that "the conditions should not have been accepted".

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said the employees' anger was legitimate and the reported conditions were unacceptable. "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," he said on X. He added: "Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city," and said an investigation would be launched quickly.

The BAPS Hindu temple in Paris apologised and said it understood the concerns raised and took them "very seriously". It said the visit had been organised with Eiffel Tower teams at the start of normal opening hours to reduce disruption to other visitors. "To our knowledge, at no time was access to the Eiffel Tower denied to anyone," it said on X, while offering "our sincere apologies to anyone who may have been hurt or inconvenienced by this situation". It also said it was "deeply committed to the universal values of mutual respect and service to others".

According to its website, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha describes itself as a "socio-spiritual Hindu faith with its roots in the Vedas" and says its global community has more than 1,300 temples across North America, Europe, Africa, West Asia, India and the Asia-Pacific region. The group consecrated its first major temple in France on Sunday near Paris, described as the country's "first traditional Hindu temple", and its delegation has been touring sites across the city.

The incident drew criticism from several senior French politicians. Assembly President Yal Braun-Pivet said, "I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors," adding that in France women fully occupy public spaces. Gender Equality Minister Aurore Berg called the episode "unacceptable" and said, "In France, we do not ask women to erase themselves. No dogma, no religion is above the laws of the Republic." Former prime minister Gabriel Attal said, "In France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can dictate to women their place." External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 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."

The dispute over the BAPS visit led to a day-long closure of the Eiffel Tower, an apology from the temple and a wider political response in France, with city authorities now set to examine how the instructions affecting female staff were allowed.

With PTI Inputs

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