Eiffel Tower Shut After Female Workers Sidelined During Hindu Group Visit

The Eiffel Tower was closed on Monday after staff went on strike over the removal of female employees from certain areas during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation, workers and management said.

The visit took place on the same day as a cultural boat procession on the Seine organised by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement.

In a statement, Eiffel Tower employees criticised what they described as “professional instructions” that resulted in female workers being sidelined or replaced by male colleagues during the delegation’s visit.

The staff said some women were asked to leave their posts and move to other areas, while others were instructed not to enter or cross certain sections of the landmark while the delegation was present.

The Eiffel Tower’s operating company, SETE, acknowledged that the delegation had requested arrangements aimed at limiting “interactions with women”. The company said such conditions should not have been accepted as they were inconsistent with its values and the principle of gender equality.

“It is clearly not an acceptable practice,” SETE president Ariel Weil told AFP, reaffirming the landmark’s commitment to French republican values and equality between men and women.

Paris socialist mayor Emmanuel Gregoire also called the arrangement “unacceptable” and said an investigation would be launched into the incident.

BAPS visit sparks political reaction

The Eiffel Tower, which attracts nearly seven million visitors annually, remained closed throughout Monday but was expected to reopen normally on Tuesday, according to a staff representative.

The incident came shortly after BAPS consecrated its first major temple in France near Paris on Sunday. The organisation has ties to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

French Equality Minister Aurore Berge criticised the reported treatment of female workers, saying that women in France should not be asked to “erase themselves” and that no religion or doctrine stands above the laws of the Republic.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen also condemned the incident, saying France would never accept restrictions on women’s presence.

Centrist politician Gabriel Attal similarly said that no culture, belief or religion could dictate to women what their place should be in France.