What is BAPS, the Hindu group whose demands led to Eiffel Tower closure? - Al Jazeera

**BAPS – The Hindu Organisation Behind the Eiffel Tower Dispute**

The Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) is a global Hindu denomination rooted in the Swaminarayan tradition, founded in 1907 in Gujarat, India. With over 70,000 devotees worldwide, the sect operates more than 1,500 temples, runs schools, hospitals and disaster‑relief initiatives, and has a strong presence among the Indian diaspora, especially in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe. BAPS is led by Mahant Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of founder Bhagwan Swaminarayan, and it enjoys close ties with India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, a relationship often highlighted by the party’s promotion of “cultural nationalism.”

In early September 2026 the organisation sparked an international controversy when a delegation of BAPS devotees planned a religious visit to Paris’s Eiffel Tower. The group asked the tower’s management to replace the female security and maintenance staff who would be on duty during the visit with male personnel, citing a belief that women should not be in close proximity to men during certain religious observances. Paris officials, seeking to accommodate the request and avoid diplomatic friction, temporarily reassigned the staff, prompting a walk‑out by the affected workers and a strike organized by the French Union of Public Employees (SUD). The disruption forced the Eiffel Tower to suspend public access for several hours on September 5, marking the first such closure in its 135‑year history.

French authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, examining whether the staff‑reassignment violated anti‑discrimination laws and labor regulations. The episode has drawn criticism from French feminists, human‑rights groups and political figures, who argue that accommodating religious demands at the cost of gender equality sets a troubling precedent. BAPS, meanwhile, has defended its position as a matter of religious freedom, with senior members asserting that the request was a “respectful” accommodation rather than an imposition. The dispute underscores the growing tension between secular public institutions and religious organisations seeking special considerations in Europe’s increasingly multicultural societies.