The Eiffel Tower fallout: Increase in racism, anti-immigrant sentiment feared

French far-right leaders have seized on the Eiffel Tower incident to demand an investigation. Centrist and even left-wing politicians have been forced to join them in condemning the Swaminarayan sect for allegedly seeking to keep women away from the Eiffel Tower during a visit by monks. Neither an apology from BAPS nor its clarification that it had merely sought to “limit” the monks’ interaction with women, and that the operating agency had decided to keep female employees away, has helped lower the tone of the discourse.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry’s statement distancing the government from the Eiffel Tower controversy in Paris is also being seen as too little, too late. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did virtually address the inauguration of the BAPS temple on the outskirts of Paris, and his close ties with the Gujarat-based sect are no secret. Far-right politicians in France have accused the French government of favouring BAPS in the allocation of land under pressure from India, one of the largest importers of French defence equipment, including Rafale fighter jets. Successive French presidents have also faced allegations of bending French laws and rules to accommodate the Indian government’s interests.

The Indian government was also represented at the temple’s consecration by the Indian Ambassador to France and the Indian Ambassador to UNESCO. Therefore, despite a statement from BAPS expressing regret over the incident and apologising for inadvertently hurting French sentiments, the MEA may need to take a more hands-on approach to damage control.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also inaugurated the BAPS temple in Abu Dhabi, where it was reported that the Indian government had used its influence to persuade the UAE authorities to facilitate the project. Modi had flown to Sarangpur village in 2016 to mourn the death of Shantilal Patel, then Pramukh Swami of BAPS. In 2022, the government also appointed a Swaminarayan monk to head the Union Public Service Commission.

The Indian diaspora in Paris has expressed concern that the incident could fuel anti-immigrant and anti-India sentiment in France and across Europe. “The Eiffel Tower affair must not serve as a pretext for more racism. The BAPS is a retrograde sect, politically linked to the Indian far right. BAPS does not represent all Hindus and certainly does not represent India,” Indian Alliance Paris, an organisation of Indian students, researchers and professionals based in Paris, posted on social media.

“IAP (Indian Alliance Paris) fully supports the Eiffel Tower staff who have gone on strike in response to discriminatory measures imposed on women by management, which yielded to demands made by the BAPS organization. This BAPS temple is no ordinary place of worship. Modi spoke about it, Macron facilitates its regressive whims. Pécresse came to inauguration and spoke of its strategic importance,” said the Alliance in a post.

Lawyer and NCP (Sharad Pawar) spokesperson Anish Gawande told a French TV channel on 8 September that the Eiffel Tower controversy is more than an isolated dispute. There is considerable ambiguity in India today over the boundary between private religious activity and state-sanctioned activity. He wondered why Indian diplomats ere present at the BAPS events and why did PM Modi in his address evoke India-France relations if it was a purely private event. BAPS, he pointed out, has invited allegations about its social, labour and political practices abroad.

The Eiffel Tower controversy may acquire a political life beyond BAPS itself, he warned, particularly if it becomes material for far-right narratives about immigrants, religion, and national identity in France. The controversy, he said, should prompt scrutiny of how the project was facilitated, how land was allocated, whether French labour laws were respected, and where the boundaries between religious organisations and state power were drawn.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen posted, “in France, we will never accept that the presence of women be ‘limited’.”  She has called for an investigation into the circumstances of the visit of the monks. “In a free country like France, gender equality is respected, and no religious reason can override women’s dignity. Our civilizational values are not negotiable,” posted Jordan Bardella, the National Rally’s party president on X.

Centre right French politician Gabriel Attal, the former prime minister who has declared his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, went further, casting the episode as a confrontation between French republican principles and religious demands. “In France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can come to dictate to women their place,” Attal said while describing the Eiffel Tower a “beacon of freedom and emancipation”. The president of the Île-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, who too was present at the temple inauguration, said she was "shocked" by the BAPS delegation's request.