What happened
On 2nd of October, The French President, Emmanual Macron stated that Islam is ‘a religion that is in crisis all over the world’. He continued to explain that there is a need to fight ‘Islamist Seperatism’, implying that it goes against the French customs, asserting its law as superior.
Shortly after, in the same month, high school teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by 18-year old Abdullakh Anzorov on the 6th of October after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a part of his lesson on free speech. The depictions Paty presented were published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, back in 2015.
Visual depictions of the prophet Muhammad are considered to be blasphemous in the Muslim community. Macron sternly defended the cartoons under the law of free speech following the incident on the 22nd. The President went onto refuse to renounce them, offending Muslims worldwide.
While the French government progresses forward against the “radical islam” with public support, its relationship with its Muslim citizens as well as with Muslim nations has taken an ugly turn.
Several Muslim nations have denounced Macron’s advocacy for the caricatures and have called for a boycott of French products including traders in Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar, who have removed French products from stores.
Moreover, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview on the 24th of October that his French counterpart is in need of ‘a mental check’ and accused the French government of stigmatising Muslims. President Erdogan went onto urge his people to stop using French goods.
Not to mention, social media users in Saudi Arabia as well as UAE have also resorted to boycotting the French supermarket Carrefour.
Moreover, there have been protests in Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Kuwait as well as in Bangladesh of which approximately 40,000 people marched after Friday prayers on the streets of Dhaka.
Europe stands with France
Leaders of the European Union (EU) have condemned the attacks on the French president.
The German foreign minister mentioned Erdogan’s criticisms against Macron as a ‘new low’, while the Dutch Prime Minister tweeted about his comments being completely unacceptable.
Prime Ministers of Italy, Netherlands and Greece have conveyed that they stand by France on their combat against extremism, especially after the deadly knife attack that took place in the city of Nice, on Thursday.
Some EU officials have said that the Turkish president is hampering the country’s potential position in the union too.
What to expect
Macron says he fully understands the sentiments of Muslims over the cartoons of the Islamic Prophet, however, he will continue to preach freedom of expression in his country and mentioned that the violence committed against Paty was in no way justifiable.
“Today in the world there are people who distort Islam and in the name of this religion that they claim to defend, they kill, they slaughter…today there is violence practised by some extremist movements and individuals in the name of Islam”, he added.
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), the direct link between the state and French Muslims disapproved of the behaviour against Macron as Muslims are not persecuted and can freely practice their religion in France. The head of CFCM then requested French Muslims to ‘defend the interests’ of the nation.
Written By: Ayesha Aleena Sayeed
Edited By: Shafa Siddiqua