Earlier this month, staff at Paris’ Eiffel Tower went on strike after its management chose to fulfil a demand by a 100-member delegation of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), who were on a sightseeing tour, following the inauguration of a temple in the suburb of Bussy-Saint-Georges. The demand was that all female staff be replaced by male colleagues during their visit, which took place shortly before public opening hours. BAPS has since issued an apology, while Paris’ Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire stated that an official investigation would be conducted into the incident.
BAPS is a Gujarat-based Hindu sect founded in 1907. It has a large global presence, running over 1,300 temples worldwide, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has named its former spiritual head Pramukh Swami Maharaj as his personal mentor. BAPS’ ability to influence international bureaucracies suggests strong ties to the administration. The sect is presently led by 92-year-old Mahant Swami Maharaj, and participated in the visit to France.
BAPS’ demand at the Eiffel Tower has brought the sect into the limelight on the basis of sexism, but its history of problematic behaviour goes further. In 2025, it emerged that BAPS had been the subject of a multi-year US federal investigation into the exploitation of workers during the construction of a major temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey, which is now the largest modern Hindu temple outside of India. The organisation continues to face litigation about the same. The allegations surround the mistreatment of 200 migrant workers from India, the majority of whom were Dalits. Workers suffered not only from unfair labour practices such as wage- and time-related nonfeasance but also sustained serious medical issues, including irreversible lung silicosis, from neglectful working conditions. Two people also died from the illness.
This is all sadly lesser-known. What happened at the Eiffel Tower has received so much coverage now only because it concerns the Indian reputation aboard, which has taken quite a tarnishing in recent years. This has largely been because of the boorish behaviour of some tourists, especially in groups: performing Garbas on the tarmac, requesting airport wheelchairs out of laziness rather than real disability, littering and vandalism, noise pollution, aggression towards staff, and so on. Cringe-worthy viral videos and images frequently testify to such acts. They are embarrassing even for those of us who don’t subscribe to chest-thumping patriotism, who find ourselves taking the brunt of the biases that the rest of the world not-undeservedly holds.
The discourse has also raised questions about what we expect of visiting dignitaries to India. The all-vegetarian menu served at the recent 2026 BRICS summit in New Delhi has been critiqued both for its dietary imposition on guests as well as its patently false curation of what Indian food really is. It would appear that the unofficial but almost official stance is that powerful Indians want their rules to be appeased abroad, while requiring those who come here to kowtow to them, too. Ordinary citizens too carry these beliefs, and operate by them both at home and elsewhere. What results is a deep sense of entitlement that is partly nurtured by the establishment, but mostly upheld by — well — us.
