r/interestingasfuck 3h ago

Eiffel Tower closed due to strike after female staff allegedly removed for Hindu group

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/09/08/travel/eiffel-tower-strike-female-staff-baps-hindu-group-intl-hnk
Upvotes

114 comments sorted by

u/zalurker 2h ago

Good. To often do we need to remind people that its 'I can't do that, its against my religion' not 'You can't do that, its against my religion'.

u/CowNervous4644 2h ago

I support the strikers.

More religeous bullshit.

u/WCRugger 1h ago

My family and I had reservations for one of the restaurants that had to be cancelled because of the strije. I know, the horror of a 1st world problem. But as soon as we learned of why we were fine with it. Because stuff these guys.

u/CowNervous4644 47m ago

I feel for you. I know how hard it is to get a reservation on the Eiffel. Please accept my thanks to you and your family for your support of these women and the fight against religeous oppression.

u/BongoProdigy 1h ago

Right? Who's still scared of cooties?

u/Abject_Film_4414 1h ago

I’ve been avoiding them since I was 12… safe so far…

u/[deleted] 1h ago

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u/The_Dreaded_Spectre 1h ago

ChristoFascists are currently running the US Government (and are threatening many other Western Nations as well), and the large majority of Reddit is either American or in a country who feels far more consequences from the US's bullshit than they do from Muslims and Hindus. It's unsurprising that the more pressing issue gets more attention.

u/lightningbadger 1h ago

We just gonna ignore the elephant in the room that's Christian nationalism then

u/[deleted] 1h ago

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u/The_Dreaded_Spectre 1h ago

The Radical Evangelical Zealots of the US have far more in common with the beliefs of hardcore Fundamentalist Sharia Law than normal people, even if they manage to hide it a little better. The primary difference between them, as I see it, is who the "chosen people" are and the that latter is a bit more open about its true goals. It's really kinda ironic how much they hate each other with how alike they are.

u/[deleted] 58m ago

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u/The_Dreaded_Spectre 50m ago

When that 0.1% manages to take control of the most powerful and influential country on earth, with dire consequences for much of the rest of the world, that makes them far more dangerous IMO. If I could only remove one group of extremists from the West, it wouldn't be a hard choice.

u/[deleted] 29m ago

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u/The_Dreaded_Spectre 19m ago

So would I as a man, but that wasn't the question. I'm not saying the US is currently a worse place to live than Saudi Arabi or Afghanistan or Iran, I'm saying the people in charge of the US, who are currently pushing it in the same direction as those countries (albeit with their own coat of paint), have much more potential for damage to the people living here than the nutjobs on the other side of the planet. I don't think there's any risk right now of Radical Islam getting much steam in the US, and certainly not enough to win major public offices. The same is not true of Radical Christianity.

u/lightningbadger 1h ago

It's really not, you're just so used to only being exposed to it when a crazy guy makes it to the headlines you assume it's the norm

u/Mogura-De-Gifdu 50m ago edited 39m ago

Meh, Catholic integrists are equally so problematic wherever they manage to be in sufficient number.

I remember the strikes against the mariage pour tous. It was appalling and safety for gays and lesbians or those perceived as such got so much worse, with people feeling empowered to act like shit.

u/inadequatepockets 1h ago

Victim complex much?

u/JohnyMage 1h ago

Brought to you by Western liberalism. Congratulations,.hope you feel enriched.

u/Plantarbre 1h ago

Send this dude a free one-way ticket to the US please

u/JohnyMage 1h ago

Ignoring problem won't magically solve it. But AfD thanks you for helping them getting elected.

u/Plantarbre 1h ago

Ok nvm it's a bot

u/Fit-Ranger8895 2h ago

Why did Eiffel Tower management comply? They should have stood their ground!

Good that they’ve gone on strike.

u/Stahlios 1h ago

They complied because money. Still a very long shot thinking they'd get away with it.

u/Darkpoulay 1h ago

Money and diplomacy - it was an official delegation

u/Mogura-De-Gifdu 47m ago

Still such discrimination is illegal by law in France.

Fine can go up to 45 000€ and 3 years of prison for a physical person, and up to 225 000€ for a moral one.

Hope this price was included in what they paid, else it was an obvious bad financial move!

u/Stahlios 47m ago

This is illegal in France tho. (Eiffel Tower's exploitation is managed by a private operator)

u/insanemaelstrom 2h ago edited 2h ago

IAs a practising hindu, firstly why accept such a ridiculous demand in the first place. The staff are right. If that group cannot handle a woman, don't go where woman are. Why force to woman staff to be removed. 

Secondly, what sort of Hinduism are these idiots following. At its core, hinduism says that we should remain at peace no matter what our body is experiencing( the world is considered an illusion, "maya"). We should not let happiness, sadness, anger, pride, etc affect us. Those are temporary things. Where did they get "women should not be there in tourist area" from that. 

Giving in to religious fanatics never works. Fanatics never really follow the teachings, they just use religion as a shield to boss around others 

Edit: also, one more thing. In Hinduism, it is said that "our intellect, our body, our gender, our clothes, etc" don't define us. We are only the observer( the atma), experiencing Maya through a temporary medium( our body). And atma( the consciousness) itself is divine in nature. Which further proves why the ones who requested the removal of female staff are idiots who don't even follow the religion they use as an excuse to do stupid stuff. "Gender, class, caste, etc" etc don't define us, according to hinduism, but guess what people who claim to "uphold hinduism" have done throughout history.  Religious fanatics, no matter the religion, never follow the religion. They just use it as a shield to commit crimes. Never give in to them. 

u/Sillyguri 2h ago

It’s BAPS shit as usual, the cult which trafficked laborers to work unpaid to build a temple in NJ.

u/insanemaelstrom 2h ago

Really shows what they are about when they are so scared of a single woman( imagine being afraid of a gender that is around 50% of human population). 

Why does government give in to these idiots. They don't pay taxes, they don't do anything meaningful and usually are just committing varying degree of horrifying crimes( like the trafficking you mentioned). Like, arrest them. If some idiots protest, arrest those idiots as well. If you claim to follow a religion, that doesn't and shouldn't give you the right to commit crimes or make people's lives harder 

u/-Pepperzpyre- 1h ago

Wild how damn near every religion is about making peace and every single one of them has some group of zealots that fuck it up for everyone else.

u/insanemaelstrom 50m ago

Organised religion sucks and should be banned. If people want to follow religion, let them read books on their own and follow on their own. Organised religion is akin to mafia. 

u/stormcharger 29m ago

Religion is just too tempting a way to make people follow you

u/OriginalTomFool 2h ago

Today I learned that Hinduism is basicly precomputer matrix

u/Appropriate-Log8506 2h ago

Hindus do not proselytize. BAPS is a scam just like televangelist.

u/Took_myshayla 2h ago

This people aren't hindu. They don't follow any hindu gods. They follow a human who they call as a leader and serve them like a god for the rest of there life. Indian government hate this people because this cult use forced labour .

u/logosobscura 1h ago

Well, that’s exactly where the Matrix came from, yes. Among other places. Not exactly subtle in the films.

Just it’s not computational. It’s karmic and cyclical.

u/zalurker 2h ago

Well put.

u/Renbarre 29m ago

It is also a way to gnaw at the fundations of French secularism.

u/lukup 12m ago

Totally.

It is absolutely insane for Hindu religious group to go anywhere and get to push around something that is not even part of Hinduism.

u/insanemaelstrom 10m ago

Yeah.

Also, even if it was part of Hinduism or any other religion, the expectation should never be that others have to follow what you say. 

u/Jakste67 1h ago

Well said. And thank You for the explanation.

u/Aishu137 2h ago

I am also Hindu, I find BAPS and the Radhakrishna groups to be really weird.

u/khallini_mennek 2h ago

What is position of women in Hindu religion ?

u/DemonDuckOfDoom666 2h ago

There are a lot of different Hindu groups and organisations, the treatment of women is as such, incredibly varied.

Basically, anything from soft matriarchy to near-Afghan levels of oppression.

u/dinoderpwithapurpose 2h ago

Varies from treating women as forms of the divine to controlling them under patriarchy. There are female goddesses who are also warriors and are worshipped. But there's also gender norms that patriarchy forces.

But Hinduism is not a monolith, it's a collection of regional practices and beliefs. You can simply choose to not follow practices you dislike. There isn't anything that says you'll go to hell for not following misogynistic practices. So this group that was responsible for this nonsense can f right off.

u/Took_myshayla 2h ago

This people aren't hindu. They are a cult who worship a human as a god. They don't follow or worship any hindu deity.

They just use hindu religion to get away with the forced labour by hiring hindu indians for labour forcefully.
They are Basically human traffickers who brainwash poor people to serve there human leader like a god.

u/the_devils_advocates 45m ago

So… like LDS but more intense?

u/ecbnrhctbo 6m ago

hey, LDS don't worship their leader as a god! they think that every man in their church is going to become a god after he dies, so long as he follows the dictates of their leader exactly (unless he tells them to wear masks in the height of COVID) and pay 10% of all income to the church, even if that means they can't feed themselves or their children! /s, but unfortunately, also genuine doctrine

u/Took_myshayla 0m ago

Yep. This BAPs doesn't make big temples in india like they do in countries like France because they know that indian hindu are gonna beat them up.

This people actually have political and money power in many countries. That's why they get away with this things.

They basically hate seeing women and make there own laws and ruin the name of hindu religion.

France shouldn't have allowed them to make temples there. Now you will see people being forced and brainwashed to work there as a slave.

The leader is a straught up evil reincarnations .

Even the worst indian government used to hate them to the core.

If you arrest there leader then this people will go and terrorrise the normal people and cause a havoc until you free there leader. Many innocents also get killed because of this people.

u/refep 2h ago

Hinduism isn’t really one religion, it’s really a collection of various religious traditions. Everyone practices it so differently.

u/Aishu137 2h ago

Hinduism is very very diverse just like how diverse India is. My family is from the south of India and I am from the States, so my experience is colored by that. But most modern day Hindus do not segregate between male and females in places of worship atleast in the south where a bulk of the temples are. The segregation I have seen in temples is more due to overcrowding and for that reason they separate women and men to prevent mishaps. But I also understand that Hinduism is a religion and people use religion to justify their own misogyny, and we also have many instances of that. Specifically with menstruation and other aspects. It is important to note that in Hinduism you can believe in 1 god, multiple gods, no gods, or you being god and call yourself Hindu it is extremely liberal. But because of eras or society it can also be conservative. All I can say is that, whatever BAPS did here is ridiculous and SHOULD NOT be justified.

u/Appropriate-Log8506 2h ago

Depending on who you ask, women or feminine energy is the start and end of it all.

u/shrivatsasomany 39m ago

They’re a bunch of idiotic cultist kooks that can (and probably will) go to hell.

Thinly veiled predatory business.

u/apprehen-sid 2h ago

What is BAPS? We have a problem where we let anyone and everyone associate with the religion. Same with ISKCON, they're separate entities and get clubbed as Hindu for whatever reason.

u/Signal-Session-6637 1h ago

u/Thiht 1h ago

The acronym does a lot of the heavy lifting lol

u/wegqg 13m ago

It just rolls off the tongue

u/apprehen-sid 1h ago

I mean, that's a very obvious rhetorical question.

u/eightkillerbits 1h ago

Someone above said they are basically evangelists but Hindu.  

Known for trafficking and modern day slavery.  

Hindus are chill af, these guys are just your typical shitstains hiding behind a religion.

u/Pleasant_Reward1203 3h ago

Omg, there already is a problem with right wing extremist groups in Europe. Doing shit like this isn't helping.

Also, if you are in someone else's country, you have to respect THEIR culture.

u/atjoad 2h ago edited 2h ago

Not a question of culture, but a question of law. You can pray whoever you want at the top of the Eiffel Tower, but sidelining women is against French laws.

u/Took_myshayla 2h ago

This people aren't hindu. They are BAPs . A cult who use forced labour to build there own temple where they worship a human being.

They don't worship any hindu God lmao.

u/Alz_Own 2h ago

Religious groups demand what they demand. All the way from no same sex marriage to critisism of them being a crime. Why did the government allow it in the first place? Now saying follow THEIR culture seems blame shifting at best

u/atjoad 2h ago

The government did not allow shit. This is blatantly illegal under French laws. We're speaking of the private operator of the Eiffel Tower, who of course did it for the money. The question is how did they believe to get away with it. One part of the answer is they thought it won't go public, just some private event among others. Which would probably happened if the entire staff did not go on strike in solidarity with women.

u/KC_Que 2h ago

It's France, striking in solidarity is a proud national passtime.  I mean, WTF did the concessions operator think would happen?

u/yyc_engineer 2h ago

It's absolutely helping! Let those.far right people drive these assholes from everywhere including India ..wait...that won't work.

u/Modo44 2h ago

Good luck explaining that to fanatics.

u/Ok_Relation7695 2h ago

No difference between right wind and religious groups they are all idiots

u/NoImNotAsian23 2h ago

Tell that to all the migrants living off government aid and demanding halal.

You wonder why the right groups are gaining popularity?

Dense.

u/lightningbadger 1h ago

Why's demanding halal meat somehow listed as a reason to be angry lol

It's like complaining someones asking for gluten free

u/Mogura-De-Gifdu 41m ago

It's the demanding part that is a problem.

Many schools chose to propose two menus to accommodate most children: either the classic with meat (including pork), or vegetarian.

And like always, one or two entitled persons will make a fuss about it (generally about halal food, never heard it about kosher food but might also be a thing), and people with far right ideas will take it as proof that everyone eating halal is bad.

u/Relative956 2h ago

I went to an abbey in Canada with my wife and the catholic culture is shitty too.

u/Im_Just_A_Tourist 2h ago

An all male Abbey is slightly different if that's the example you're going for. I don't care what gender roles someone's faith defines inside their churches or temples, that doesn't exist outside their faith though and they don't get to demand it be enforced as though it were otherwise.

u/SuperCyka 2h ago

Completely different scenario.

Going to an abbey ≠ visiting the Eiffel Tower

u/BingpotStudio 2h ago

Must be something in common… should we just stop hiding behind nonsense fairytales to justify our own shitty beliefs?

u/lightningbadger 1h ago

Right wing groups don't need these events to fuel their hatred, doesn't stop them waiting with baited breath for someone on the other "team" to slip up so they can act like they represent everyone under the same label

u/Insane_Inkster 2h ago

BAPS is fucking cancer.

u/jr5mc1lio03fbc4zqsf8 2h ago

Wtf is this bullshit

u/dululemon 3h ago edited 2h ago

As a Hindu, I am ashamed and reject this demand. Hinduism, pre-1100 AD, had always regarded women holding equal prominence and role in life. The historical artefacts, that is the still existing sculptures and temples (mainly in South India, because few remained standing in North), the pantheon of goddesses, the scriptures and literatures (and IMHO, majority of literature of that time) are full of liberal female protagonists. The osmosis with conservative religions and practices started from around 1100 AD and reached its peak during the Victorian age during the Raj.

A similar thing is going on in my hometown (in India) right now. A Hindu group is evangelizing the conservative ways of life. I find it ironic, that in order to go back to true Hinduism these groups are actually pushing the lifestyle and values of the religion from the West of India, which they claim they are defending Hinduism from.

u/Took_myshayla 2h ago

If you are a hindu then you should also know that this people aren't hindu but a cult.

u/Jonny7Tenths 2h ago

One can respect an individuals right to religious belief but that does not equate with respecting those beliefs. Far too often politicians in Europe and the UK have shown themselves incapable of understanding or, if they do, advocating such. If a man, whether Hindi, Muslim, Jewish or Christian, chooses to treat women in a patriarchal fashion, that must be decried and denigrated whatever offence may be caused.

u/InfiniteBaker6972 1h ago

This is why I love the French. Don’t agree with something? Strike. Don’t like those in power? Revolution. We should take several pages out of their book.

u/Plastic_Persimmon_91 45m ago

I mean, I don’t think it’s not worth voicing your opposition but I’m a non-French person that’s been living here for a while now and France isn’t nearly as progressive as you’d like to believe. They mostly are aligned with social welfare policies but it’s still far less accommodating than the US as far as racial diversity, neurodivergence, etc are concerned. France is probably left leaning if you’re a straight white man (even cis-women for that matter) but iverall it’s a worse place to be vs North America if you’re ND, queer or non-white

u/CPNCK513 39m ago

Unfortunately the last time a strike made the government changes its mind on something was in 2006. Since then, no strikes had any repercussions, even the Yellow Vests ones (all they got was less taxes for the employer on one annual prime, and the employer doesn't even have to give the tax money to the workers)

u/nowhereman136 1h ago

I'd expect religious assholes to ask, but fuck whatever management was in charge that agreed to it

u/ziamese 59m ago

The Hindu group was wrong but the Eiffel management were just a bunch of limp dicks. All they had to do was say no.

u/Kuoliibk 56m ago

My belief in religious freedom ends when it infringes on the freedom of others. they can keep that nonsense in their little group.

u/kibbean 2h ago

BAPS is a cult that doesn't represent most hindus. this is repugnant behavior on the part of BAPS. and it's going to be an excuse a lot of people will use to continue to be shitty to indian people.

u/Weirdlillypad 1h ago

Fuck this religious bullshit. Do it behind closed doors in areas specifically for it. Otherwise fuck off shoving it down our throats.

u/cacamilis22 31m ago

More religious bullshit as someone said earlier.

u/Eastern_Switch8217 29m ago

Isn't that also a breach of laïcité? French public bodies and their staff are bound to religious neutrality.

As well as being gender discrimination, which is also legally prohibited.

France of all places has serious protections in place against this kind of thing.

u/Took_myshayla 1h ago

This people aren't hindu. They are a cult who worship a human as a god. They don't follow or worship any hindu deity. This people are called BAPs.

They just use hindu religion to get away with the forced labour by hiring hindu indians for labour forcefully.
They are Basically human traffickers who brainwash poor people to serve there human leader like a god.

u/blueblue_electric 1h ago

Are this lot the group that are videoed chanting and singing on from what I've seen, public transport, airports, non Hindu historical monuments in foreign countries?

u/Nocomment600 1h ago

Peak anti-socialism

u/yyc_engineer 2h ago

These are same idiots that are militantly imposing vegetarian diets.

u/Vaporeon42069 2h ago

You call people who noticed "far right nazis" now deal with it. 

u/slevinonion 2h ago

Hard to believe the French would strike

u/Single-Baseball1297 2h ago

I probably will get shit for this, but religious rightwingers from South Asia (specially India) is a big reason for growing anti-immigration sentiment in non-English European countries, I am specifically saying “non-english” because these countries don’t have a lot of South Asian population like USA and UK, but these radical practices don’t go well with anyone from ring wing to normie liberals

u/Exact_Package_7264 2h ago

i live in the uk and i'm not sure what you're babbling about. indians here are fairly well assimilated. the grooming gangs are made up of almost exclusively their neighboring country, however,

u/Took_myshayla 2h ago

This people aren't hindu. They are a cult who worship a human as a god. They don't follow or worship any hindu deity. They are called BAPs.

They just use hindu religion to get away with the forced labour by hiring hindu indians for labour forcefully.
They are Basically human traffickers who brainwash poor people to serve there human leader like a god.

u/CrochetedHat 29m ago

They should immediately issue search warrants for the households of the management. There's no way they issued such a backwards ass order out of the kindness of their hearts or respect to their religion. Someone's definitely keeping a few shoeboxes filled with ill-gotten cash. 

u/Clay5000 1h ago

Christ people it is 2026, time to give up the religious fairytales and become a normal person.

u/Lucky-Crow-3510 47m ago

stupid religions

u/judabbelju 2h ago edited 8m ago

warum kannte man das in den 80/90 ern nicht? oder wurde es nicht publik? oder sagten die Betreiber, zu solchen Forderungen ( Männergruppe), FCK off?

u/pennyandpaper 2h ago

I fffffed up bad wearing an a line skirt to the top of the eiffel tower on a study abroad trip. I could probably sell the pics of me and my roommate holding our skirts down.  Oh dang is this what people see in mechanical bulls