French opposition leader Marine Le Pen has called for a ban to be imposed on Pakistan and Bangladesh immigrants amidst largest scale protests in the two Muslim nations against France and its President Emmanuel Macron after he vowed to stand against Islamic terrorism.
Le Pen’s Tweet roughly translates to: “In view of the new ultra-violent demonstrations today in Bangladesh (demonstrators who called to behead our ambassador), and Pakistan, I call for an immediate moratorium on immigration from these countries, in the name of national security. MLP.”
Au regard des nouvelles manifestations ultra-violentes aujourd’hui au #Bangladesh (manifestants qui ont appelé à décapiter notre ambassadeur), et au #Pakistan, je demande un moratoire immédiat sur l’immigration originaire de ces pays, au nom de la sécurité nationale. MLP
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 30, 2020
Earlier, Pen had also thanked India for showing support to France and the French President Emmanuel Macron, whom Pakistan, Turkey, and many others have targeted for upholding the French people’s right to freedom of expression.
With a representational flag of both the countries, Pen tweeted on October 26, “Thanks to India and to its government who have just given their support to France facing intimidation to give up its values.”
Merci à l’Inde 🇮🇳 et à son gouvernement qui viennent d’apporter leur soutien à la France confrontée à des intimidations pour renoncer à ses valeurs. 🙏 MLP#StandWithFrancehttps://t.co/DFeMOmAWyN pic.twitter.com/nPOsD2qvVu
— Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) October 26, 2020
French President’s resolute to tackle Islamic terrorism has infuriated many Islamic nations like Pakistan, Turkey, which took the lead to denounce the French President. Muslims in the Middle East and the Arab world also joined Pakistanis in their calls for boycotts of French products. Recently, Bangladesh also joined the other Islamic nations to protest against France and its president.
Bangladesh joins other Islamic nations protesting against France and the French President
Ten Thousands of Muslims hit the streets of Dhaka Friday, calling for a boycott on French products. The protest erupted after French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to stand firm to guard French values following knife attack in the city of Nice.
The crowd were seen carrying banners calling Macron “the world’s biggest terrorist”. One of the radical fundamentalists who was part of the protest said: “Macron is leading Islamophobia. He doesn’t know the power of Islam. The Muslim world will not let this go in vain. We’ll rise and stand in solidarity against him,” he furthered.
On October 27, the protesters had gathered in the morning in front of Bangladesh’s main Baitul Mokarram Mosque in Dhaka and later started marching toward the French Embassy, which is located a few kilometres away from the mosque.
The protesters belonging to the Islami Andolon Bangladesh (a group that advocates for the introduction of Islamic law in the Muslim-majority country), carried banners and placards reading “All Muslims of the world, unite” and “Boycott France.” They also carried a large cut-out of a photo of French President Emmanuel Macron and hung shoes around its neck.
In Pakistan, police briefly fired tear gas at protesters on Friday who broke through security blockades in Islamabad in a failed attempt to demonstrate at the French Embassy against the printing in France of images depicting the Prophet Mohammad.
Why has the French President come in the line of fire?
The attacks against French President comes days after Macron had made a sensational speech saying that “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”.
Macron had made a historic statement following the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty’s killing, who was beheaded by an Islamic terrorist for showing Charlie Hebdo caricatures to his students.
After the barbaric beheading of teacher Samuel Paty on the streets of Paris by a terrorist for showing the cartoons of Prophet Mohammad to his students, support poured in for the deceased teacher across the French communities who took to streets to condemn the killing of Samuel Paty.
However, the historic speech by Macron and his pronouncements to tackle Islamic terror had infuriated many Islamic countries, with many Islamic countries, especially Turkey and Pakistan took the lead to denounce the French President.
Not just Muslims in Pakistan and the Arab world but even radical Islamic organisations in India such as Raza Academy had initiated a campaign demanding that Muslim countries issue a fatwa against French President Emmanuel Macron after cartoons on Prophet Mohammed by Charlie Hebdo were projected onto government buildings.
India expresses solidarity with France
As France continued to get attacked by Islamic countries over its resolve to fight the radical Islamic terror, majority of Indians stood in solidarity with France and its people earlier this week.
Several Indian social media users expressed their support to France and trended #IStandWithFrance. Several social media users tweeted with this hashtag people to convey their support to Macron’s strong decision to take a stand against extremism in France.
The government of India also in an official statement said that it “strongly deplores the personal attacks in unacceptable language on President Emmanuel Macron in violation of the most basic standards of international discourse”.
The Ministry of External Affairs, also condemned “the brutal terrorist attack that took the life of a French teacher in a gruesome manner that has shocked the world”.
The Modi government also offered its condolences to the family of the deceased and the people of France. “There is no justification for terrorism for any reason or under any circumstance,” the MEA statement added.
