Hindu group says probe confirms it did not ask Eiffel Tower to remove women employees during visit

PARIS: A Hindu religious group has said investigations have established it did not request female employees be "hidden, removed or excluded" during its delegation's visit to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

This came after Eiffel Tower staff went on strike last month over allegations that female employees were moved away during a visit by around 100 people associated with BAPS (Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam) Swaminarayan Sanstha. The strike triggered a day-long closure of the iconic monument located in the French capital.

In a statement on Thursday, BAPS Paris said, "From the outset, BAPS has consistently stated that it never asked for female employees to be hidden, removed or excluded."

"The investigation establishes this fact that BAPS made no such request for women to be excluded along the visitor route," it said.

The group also reiterated its concern for employees affected by the events surrounding the visit and expressed hope that the clarification would help provide a "better understanding" of the circumstances and "allow everyone involved to move forward respectfully."

This comes days after Societe d'Exploitation de la tour Eiffel -- the company that runs the Eiffel Tower -- announced that its head Patrick Branco Ruivo will step down at the end of the year after an investigation conducted by an independent firm uncovered a series of operational failures in relation to the BAPS delegation's visit on September 5.

Eiffel Tower employees, represented by the CGT trade union, had alleged that “workplace instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and rendered invisible on the basis of their gender” during the delegation's visit.

The BAPS Hindu temple in Paris earlier apologised to anyone hurt or inconvenienced by the situation but said, "to our knowledge, at no time was access to the Eiffel Tower denied to anyone.”

The BAPS delegation was in France for the inauguration of the Hindu temple near Paris, which was consecrated in September.

According to its website, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a “socio-spiritual Hindu faith” with more than 1,300 temples, spread across North America, Europe, Africa, West Asia, India and the Asia-Pacific region.