On 22nd October (Thursday), French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to ban “illegitimate” protests, in addition to accusing “seditious” ultra-left organisations and vandals of the widespread rioting and looting in the country. Following a meeting with senior ministries and intelligence chiefs, he stated that agitations led by organisations like trade unions would be permitted to continue, but they could be redirected along different routes in order to protect businesses.
Macron expressed, “Last Saturday we had political and seditious acts by ultra-left groups whose aim is to bring down the Republic.” He also declared that the defence council would meet on Friday to discuss the security situation. French soldiers will be placed on the street in light of the volatile situation. The development transpired as French authorities geared up for new demonstrations in the wake of some of the worst urban violence in the nation’s history.
Lyon, the second-largest city in the country, has prohibited all protests scheduled for Saturday, according to local officials. However, fresh agitations are already rearing their heads ahead of what authorities anticipate could result in another turbulent weekend. The Yellow Vest movement, an anti-establishment force that was founded in 2018, has filed plans for a march through downtown Paris, while UNEF, France’s largest student union, has made plans for protests on Saturday.
In the event of violence, businesses in central Paris have started to board up store windows. Hermès, a luxury goods company, announced that it has increased security at its French stores. Marine Le Pen’s “National Rally” was scheduled to hold an annual gathering as unions and left-wing organisations planned protests, forcing authorities in the northern city of Orleans to prepare for possible conflict.
Furthermore, transit authorities closed metro stations in downtown Paris in anticipation of unapproved assemblies after a student protest scheduled for Thursday was banned. On 17th October, France experienced unprecedented urban unrest and nationwide protests.
Hence, strong security measures have been implemented in reaction to the growing instability in Paris and other French cities. Night curfews have been imposed in certain districts of the French capital and other cities where order has been restored. The planned protests in Paris, Lyon, Lille, and Grenoble on Thursday were not allowed.
Paris police prefecture outlined that the restriction was required due to the possibility of street violence that broke out over the weekend, when perpetrators in masks clashed with cops, robbed stores and set cars on fire.
The ban extends to the Élysée Presidential Palace, both houses of Parliament, and the city’s major railway stations. Areas of downtown Paris that were heavily looted are also included. According to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, a “massive” security operation is scheduled for Saturday to stop the violence by small groups of rioters.
Last month, a high school in Creteil, southeast of Paris, saw the onset of the protests in the name of lack of staff. Class strikes, blockades, and protests subsequently extended to neighbouring Paris suburbs and eventually the entire country, including smaller towns.
Notably, a Fox News investigation titled “Global Chaos Inc Grows to 101 Groups” has revealed that there are 101 organisations like Progressive International and various Islamo-leftist groups across nine countries, including India, actively coordinating, organising, or amplifying protests.
It was similarly reported that of the 50 organisations actively participating in the ongoing protests, only 15, about one-third, were student or youth groups. The majority, 35 groups, were adult-led: around 12 labour unions, 8 communist or socialist groups, 4 political parties, including La France Insoumise and the French Communist Party, leftist civil or human rights groups, and one Palestinian advocacy group.
In Paris and other protest-hit areas across France, hammer-and-sickle flags appeared alongside Palestinian flags and Keffiyehs. Far-left political leaders also joined protesters, and pro-Palestine ‘activists’ mixed into the actions.
The fresh wave of protests across Europe and the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests in India against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar are in continuation of the Islamo-leftist/communist pattern of hijacking real issues and protests, resorting to violence, and pushing their own ideological-political agenda through mobilisation and propaganda.
