By Haider Abbas
The situation snowballing in France over the cartoon controversy was quite in the making, owing to France President Emmanuel Macron ‘body-posturing’ towards hard-selling a proposed law in France by Christmas this year, purportedly which stems from the French law of 1905 which stands for separation of church and state, but in fact, had to be framed against Muslims, who ironically, are more than 10 % of the overall French population.
Macron, had also to be personally embittered by a fact which, according to AlKhaleejToday , when Sophia returned after four-years of captivity from Mali, alongside Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse and two Italian nationals, Father Pierluigi Maccalli and Nicola Chiacchio, and as she was received by Macron she conveyed to him that she had taken to Islam and her name is Mayram which is Mary in Christian parlance and also that she would now implore to Allah to seek for His blessings for the orphans and children in Mali, -the same day. Had she had not converted to Islam she would not have signalled to go to Mali again, for her philanthropic work, which none of her three accomplice did announce.
It is ironic that Macron had already on October 2, 2020 conveyed ‘Islam in Crisis’ which actually meant that a stricter oversight of schooling and a control over foreign funding of mosques was needed. Macron had also denounced Islamist separatism which wanted to make a counter-society and considers its own (Islamic) laws as above others. Macron also did declare, 18 months before his elections, that a new law would be brought in France which would keep a track on schooling (Muslims) and also on indoctrination (by Muslims) and also put on ban on wearing religious symbols (Hijab) and also would make organisations seeking subsidy from France government to sign a contract to commit to secularism. Macron had lamented that radical Islam is gaining because of ‘our withdrawal and our cowardice’.
Macron had announced that his government is to bring a new law in December 2020 that would strengthen the bedrock of 1905 law of France to separate Church from the State. This coming law is most arguably going to be against Islamic values and Muslims. Macron has radicalised the France politics and it is no surprise that this cartoon controversy erupted again, within days to his October 2, 2020 speech, after it had first erupted by Charlie Hebdo in 2015. It may also be added here that in the beginning of month of October 2020, a student had entered France parliament with a Hijab, and which, had prompted some MPs to walk out. In January 2020 a teenager had received death-threats after he had used abusive language against Islam. Interestingly, after Sophia conveyed to Macron, a twitter hashtag was prompted by Muslim activists that MacronIsInCrisis and not IslamInCrisis 4.
As the situation was already on the boil, that on October 6, 2020, the French teacher of history and civics education Samuel Paty showed cartoons of Prophet of Islam by Charlie Hebdo, in his class, and in its wake he was killed on October 16, 2020, by a Chechen refugee Abdoullakh Anzorov . Samuel Paty was also accused by one student‘s father for ‘disseminating pornography’ in court as Paty had shown cartoons that were naked. What may be also interesting is to note that the trial of Charlie Hebdo office attack, which happened in 2015 had begun in September, and in its run-up Charlie Hebdo has started to republish the cartoons of 2015, and which had found one Muslim attacking the office again with a meat-cleaver on September 29, 2020 . What makes it amply clear is that Charlie Hebdo had since September set up the tempo and Macron only came to up the ante.
Macron was also was the first European head-of-the-state to have visited Beirut after the blasts on August 4, 2020 and was dubbed as Macron Banoparte and it was speculated if France was trying to reconquer Lebanon, debated TheWeek. as to how Macron was present to exploit the religious faultiness in Lebanon which had come to the fore. Then, when Turkey president announced to have found Energy in Black Sea i.e. hydrocarbons on August 19, 2020 it led to an ‘head-on’ between Turkey and Greece within a week , but Macron jumped into it to the rescue of Greece and startled the world to announce to give 8 Rafale fighter jets to Greece for free . Something for which India paid had to pay a whopping billions of USD.
The way Macron has carved his politics in the recent times did not surprise anyone when he announced the French highest civilian award to Samuel Paty, thus, making it clear to the world, that what was to be Charlie Hebdo policy is now to be the state policy of France, which is freedom of expression in disguise but what is in fact a shameful expression of the right to insult. No wonder, its roots lie when Dante, was to condition his divine comedy!
But, the glimmer of hope, has come from Russia, which has announced through its Kremlin spokesperson that it would not allow anti-Islam media.
The writer is a former State Information Commissioner. He is a media analyst and writes on international politics.