The BAPS Controversy: Keep Faith Out Of Government
The BAPS controversy at Paris’s Eiffel Tower has raised questions over alleged sidelining of women employees during a monks’ visit and the Indian government’s association with the religious organisation. While BAPS denies issuing such instructions, the incident has renewed debate over religious practices in public institutions and the need for governmental distance from faith groups.
The Eiffel Tower controversy has sparked questions over religious practices, women’s dignity and government proximity to faith organisations | AI Generated Image
The Government of India has done well to dissociate itself from the controversy surrounding the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a religious organisation from Gujarat, after allegations that women employees of the Eiffel Tower were asked to remain out of sight during a visit by its monks. However, whether the government can completely extricate itself from the controversy is another matter.
The incident resulted in the closure of the iconic Paris landmark for an entire day after workers went on strike in protest. They wanted to express solidarity with their female colleagues who, according to staff unions, had been sidelined during the visit.
The French authorities are examining what happened, while BAPS has denied instructing the Eiffel Tower authorities to keep women employees away. The organisation has also apologised for any inconvenience caused.
Questions Over Government Proximity
Even if some supervisors were overzealous in accommodating the visitors, the episode raises an uncomfortable question about the government’s proximity to the organisation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed, through a video call, those attending the inauguration of the BAPS temple in the Paris region. Indian embassy officials were also present at the ceremony and conveyed their good wishes.
This is not an isolated association. A couple of years ago, Modi, along with the BAPS spiritual leader, inaugurated the organisation’s temple in the United Arab Emirates.
There is nothing wrong with a religious organisation having a temple in another country. Nor is there anything objectionable about citizens following religious practices, however unusual they may appear to others.
BAPS says its monks observe strict rules concerning contact with women. Such practices, however, cannot be allowed to spill over into public institutions in a way that humiliates or discriminates against women employees.
Women’s Dignity And Religious Practice
This is particularly difficult to reconcile with the government’s own emphasis on women’s dignity and empowerment, symbolised by its Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.
How can a government that urges society to respect and empower women remain comfortable with a situation in which women workers are, allegedly, expected to make themselves invisible to visiting monks? The controversy also recalls the existence of dissent within religious traditions.
A group that broke away from the BAPS tradition reportedly created a sect in which women could become monks. Religious practices are neither immutable nor beyond debate. The larger principle is more important than the particular incident. Allowing a religious group to establish a temple is not, by itself, evidence of strong bilateral relations. Nor should participation by political leaders in religious ceremonies be treated as a measure of diplomatic achievement.
A secular government must maintain a respectful distance from all religious organisations. In this case, keeping that distance would have been wiser and would have spared the government the embarrassment of explaining an incident that happened far away in Paris.
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