The Eiffel Tower Strike: A Glimpse into India's Hindu Nationalist Agenda The recent strike at the Eiffel Tower, sparked by a private tour of the iconic landmark by a delegation from the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a Hindu sect with close ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, has highlighted the inroads that far right ideologies are making in Western countries.
French politicians were quick to condemn the exclusion of female staff from the tour, but the incident also serves as a reminder of the complex and often fraught relationship between India's Hindu nationalist agenda and its diaspora communities abroad.
The BAPS temple in Paris, inaugurated with a video message from Modi, has been hailed as a symbol of bilateral cooperation between France and India.