We have seen many cruel incidents of injustice, discrimination, and misuse of power this year, and last Monday was not any different. With Donald Trump’s never-ending Islamophobic comments and hate beamed across the internet, its no wonder that the West is seeing a resurgence in violence against minorities. Now the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has also singled out Muslims worldwide with his myopic comments.
On October 16th, an 18-year-old student and a Chechen refugee in France beheaded his school teacher almost 2 months after he displayed the caricatures of Prophet Mohammed in his classroom. These are the same caricatures that sparked violence in 2015.
Before the incident, Macron was quoted as saying that Islam was a religion in crisis and filled with radicalism.
Islam is a religion that is in crisis today all over the world plagued by radical temptations and by a yearning for a reinvented jihad which is the destruction of the other.
After the killing of 47-year-old Samuel Paty, Macron once again spoke out against a religion that is followed by almost 1.8 billion people. He said:
We will continue… We will defend the freedom that you taught so well and we will bring secularism. France will not give up cartoons, drawings, even if others back down.
Macron gets called out
While countries like BJP-ruled India stood in support of France, Muslim countries including Turkey and Pakistan asked the French President to consider his words carefully.
As a result, a social media protest has begun, one that asks all Muslim countries and its citizens to boycott French products until an apology is tendered.
Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, also took to his Twitter account to condemn the French President’s statements. He wrote:
Hallmark of a leader is he unites human beings, as Mandela did, rather than dividing them. This is a time when Pres Macron could have put healing touch & denied space to extremists rather than creating further polarisation & marginalisation that inevitably leads to radicalisation.
Read the full thread here:
It is unfortunate that he has chosen to encourage Islamophobia by attacking Islam rather than the terrorists who carry out violence, be it Muslims, White Supremacists or Nazi ideologists. Sadly, President Macron has chosen to deliberately provoke Muslims, incl his own citizens,
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 25, 2020
Pakistani celebrities add their voices
Famous Pakistani celebrities are also speaking out on this matter. Prominent figures like Shoaib Akhtar, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Ahsan Khan, Yasir Hussain, and Feroze Khan took to their social media accounts to highlight the issue.
Let’s take a look:
If France is indeed a republic then there should be liberty there not insults upon anothers religion. I completely and whole heartedly protest against this blatent disrespect of our beloved prophet Muhammad (PBUH) this needs to stop.
— Ahsan Khan (@Ahsankhanuk) October 27, 2020
Macron: France will not give up our cartoons.
Also Macron: Muslim nations please give up your call to boycott French goods.
If you have the freedom to hate, we have the freedom to reject your hate.#boycottfrenchproducts— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) October 26, 2020
Wht if Muslims organize a contest of throwing cow meat on a Ram statue? Or who can slaughter the most pigs in a synagogue or who can spit on a cross with the most accuracy. Its evil. Same applies in the case of making insulting cartoons of a man held sacred by more than 1.5BN PPL
— Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) October 27, 2020
– Prophet Mohammad ﷺ before anyone. #MacronApologizeToMuslims #boycottfrenchproducts
— Feroze Khan (@ferozekhaan) October 27, 2020
What do you think of French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments? Share your views in the comments section.
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