Eiffel Tower reopens after strike over limits on women staff during Hindu delegation visit

PARIS (AP) — The Eiffel Tower reopened Tuesday, a day after one of the world’s most-visited landmarks was closed by a strike to protest what a union official called “unacceptable” management instructions limiting the presence of women during a visit by a Hindu delegation on Saturday.

Diane Davoine of the CGT union told The Associated Press anger grew among staff of the iconic 330-meter (1,083-foot) tower over the weekend after management told employees that female workers should ″not be in contact″ with a visiting delegation from Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha.

The group, known as BAPS, is a worldwide religious and civic organization within the Swaminarayan sect, a branch of Hinduism. It has been holding celebrations to mark the inauguration of a traditional Hindu stone temple in the French capital.

In a written statement emailed to the AP on Tuesday, the group said it coordinated with the Eiffel Tower’s management to minimize disruption to staff and visitors ahead of a visit by a delegation of some 100 people.

The coordination was “never, at any point, intended as a request rooted in gender, and any suggestion to the contrary does not reflect…