‘Matter between entities concerned’: MEA on Eiffel Tower row
· Scroll
The incident involving women staffers at the Eiffel Tower being removed from their work stations during a visit by a Hindu religious group was a “matter purely between the entities concerned”, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.
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The incident had taken place during a visit by a delegation of about 100 people associated with the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha to the monument on Saturday. The removal of the women staffers had led to a strike by employees at the Paris landmark, due to which the Eiffel Tower was shut on Monday.
On Sunday, the group consecrated its first major temple in France, located in the suburbs of Paris, in a ceremony attended virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday that the government was aware of the opening of the BAPS temple in Paris. “As to the particular issue pertaining to the Tower, this is a matter purely between the entities concerned,” he said.
The controversy
The Eiffel Tower staff said on Monday that female employees had been instructed “to make themselves invisible” in order to welcome the BAPS delegation, AFP reported.
“Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas,” the staffers were quoted as saying. “In some posts, they were replaced...