Story perspectives

Eiffel Tower Shut After Women Removed for Hindu Delegation

9/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

Eiffel Tower staff walked out, shutting the monument after women were removed for a Hindu delegation.
Around 100 members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha visited on Sept 5.
BAPS requested the tour limit interactions with women, a condition SETE should not have accepted.
SETE president Ariel Weil apologized, called the practice unacceptable, and pledged a procedural review.

History

Historical Context

France’s 2004 law banning conspicuous religious symbols in public schools, enacted after the Stasi Commission’s 2003 report and effective 2 September 2004, sparked nationwide debates on laïcité. The 2024 Eiffel Tower protest, where SETE director Ariel Weil stopped tours after the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha requested women-free access for its 100-member Hindu delegation, echoes this long-standing secular-religious tension.

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Story summary

Eiffel Tower staff walked out, shutting the monument after women were removed for a Hindu delegation.
Around 100 members of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha visited on Sept 5.
BAPS requested the tour limit interactions with women, a condition SETE should not have accepted.
SETE president Ariel Weil apologized, called the practice unacceptable, and pledged a procedural review.

1 / 2