Link to article: https://www.france24.com/en/france/20260909-eiffel-tower-row-over-hindu-sect-baps-unites-french-politicians-%E2%80%93-but-divides-indian-diaspora
Over Labor Day weekend, members of BAPS, a denomination of Hinduism known for its far-right ideologies, took a private tour of the Eiffel Tour. The women working there during the excursion were asked to leave, being replaced by men in an attempt to align the tour’s appearance with the beliefs of BAPS. The extremely conservative sect of Hinduism began to receive attention from all different kinds of demographics and has sparked a major controversy. Groups of diaspora Indians living in France raised concerns of BAPS creating a misrepresentation of the culture of Indian Hinduism and potentially furthering racist perspectives due to one group’s offensive actions. French politicians also began sharing their perspectives on the event, with both socialist and far-right leaders expressing disappointment and objections.
This story serves as an example of what nationwide reactions to an extremist group can look like, especially when the group is aligned with a minority population. The more progressive Indians residing in France had been fighting to promote an inclusive representation of Hinduism just to be overshadowed by the actions of one far-right group. Many Western leaders are hesitant to acknowledge these concerns until necessary, fueling the agendas of organizations like BAPS as silence can be interpreted as support. This issue is exemplified in the New Jersey BAPS case where a lawsuit was filed against the sect for unethical temple working conditions, only to be closed years later when US President Donald Trump came into power. BAPS announced that this reaction showed support of their temple being “a place of peace, service, and devotion”. Reactions like this harm the overall appearance of Hinduism in the eyes of the world due to their unspoken support for unequal treatment and human rights violations. Diasporic Indian communities within France may face judgement in response to the beliefs of the BAPS group that have now been labeled as theirs. This story expressed the danger of those who only became invested after extreme controversy and the importance of awareness campaigns that encourage understanding of the various values existing among ethnic and religious groups.
Current and potential social cleavages within France are exposed in this article. The tensions within Hinduism are rising as more progressive Hindus find drastic differences in their values and culture compared to the increasingly problematic BAPS group, upset after this Eiffel Tour incident cast instant attention over the extremism they have spent years raising awareness to no avail. French Hinduism has been divided into more and less conservative sides, with progressive Indians seeking distance from the BAPS community due to denominational differences. Additionally, many French diasporic Hindus worry this religious cleavage could lead to an ethnic cleavage due to the potential of ultra-conservative BAPS group’s extreme beliefs being generalized as all Hindu’s beliefs. This exploitation may allow far-right French political parties to use stories of Hindu misogyny and radical ideologies to back their stances against immigration as a whole, or Indian immigrant in particular, and deepen the ethnic fragmentation and discrimination within the country.