Eiffel Tower row over Hindu sect BAPS unites French politicians – but divides Indian diaspora
France 24 · LC · trust 45/100
France got a crash course on the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a Hindu sect at the heart of an Eiffel Tower strike this week. But for Indians in France who have been trying to raise awareness of far-right Hindu groups, it comes too late. As the 2027 election campaign goes into high gear, some fear the issue will be politicised by the French far right.
By: Leela JACINTO Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Hindu monks participate in a religious ceremony in front of the Eiffel Tower on September 3, 2026. © Kenzo Tribouillard, AFP On Saturday, September 5, as members of a Hindu sect were set to make a splash visit to the Eiffel Tower , an organisation of progressive Indians living in France held a public meeting in Paris to shed some light on the religious group and the international spread of Hindu nationalism , which has been turbocharged during Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s tenure.
The French press was invited to the event organised by the Indian Alliance Paris (IAP) and co-hosted by three other organisations, including France’s CGT union. Speakers at the public meeting included activists and researchers from France, as well as the US and India, who joined via video link. They focused on the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a sect that was opening a large new temple in a Paris suburb. Issues were raised and addressed, a documentary was screened, and a press statement was released after the event.
But there was not much coverage in the French press of a weekend meeting held by one of many diaspora groups in Paris.
That changed on Monday, when the Eiffel Tower was closed after staff went on strike over female workers being removed and replaced by men during a private tour by a BAPS delegation of the Paris landmark.
Suddenly, BAPS and its giant temple in Bussy-Saint-Georges, an eastern suburb located between the French capital and Disneyland Paris, was all over the news. Audiences got a crash course on a sect practicing a “very conservative form of Hinduism” with “close links” to the Modi administration.
Watch more ‘Was this a state visit?’ Indian opposition leader raises serious questions over Paris BAPS temple
“We tried to highlight this issue. We tried to tell them that these people are very conservative and they are very misogynistic. But it didn’t really come into the spotlight,” said IAP secretary Joy Banerjee, listing the many ways his organisation attempted to reach out to left-leaning French political parties. “Suddenly, the mask was dropped on Monday because of the strike.”
The Eiffel Tower reopened to the public on Tuesday. BAPS released a statement noting that, “To our knowledge, at no time was access to the Eiffel Tower denied to anyone. Nevertheless, we sincerely apologise for any pain or inconvenience caused.”
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By then, every French politician worth their salt – and with an eye on the 2027 election – had commented on the fracas. Socialist Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire promised an investigation. Valérie Pécresse , president of the Île-de-France Paris metropolitan area and member of the conservative Les Républicains party, expressed her “shock” on X. French far-right leader Marine Le Pen also got into the act, noting that, “In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be limited."
Just days after many diaspora Indians in France opposed to Modi’s policies got together to raise awareness of BAPS, some were worried about a French far-right, anti-immigrant backlash. On Tuesday morning, the IAP took to X to warn that, “the Eiffel Tower story must not become fodder for more racism,” adding, “BAPS does not represent all Hindus and it certainly does not represent India.”
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It was not the first time a progressive diaspora group in the West has tried to raise awareness of the inroads far-right ideologies from their homeland were making in their new countries. Many of them have spent months and years watching as Western leaders, driven by economic or geopolitical interests, ignore their warnings and lay out the red carpet for nationalist demagogues without raising human rights concerns. Now, as the far right extends its reach across Western Europe, many fear the awareness amounts to too little, too late.
Founded in 1907 with the consecration of a mandir, or temple, in the village of Bochasan in the western Indian region of Gujarat, BAPS is a denomination of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, a Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism.
From a little-known village temple, BAPS has grown into a global organisation that manages more than 1,300 temples and more than 5,025 centres across India, North America, Europe, West Asia, Africa and Australia.
The BAPS temple on the outskirts of Paris – believed to be the biggest in Europe built in the traditional style – was inaugurated on Sunday with a video message delivered by the Indian prime minister.
The private Eiffel Tower visit was part of the events from September 3-14 marking the opening of the BAPS temple, billed as a 13-day “festival of culture” that included a procession of boats gliding down the Seine River last week.
In his inauguration address, Modi hailed the temple was as a symbol of bilateral cooperation. "A magnificent temple stands ready today in France and it will not only enrich France's diversity but also energise the cultural relations between India and France," he said.
Under the Modi administration, the construction of temples has been a potent emblem of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, propagated by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a vast volunteer paramilitary group founded nearly a century ago.
The RSS is an umbrella organisation that includes…
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