Pakistan’s minister for human rights has accused Emmanuel Macron of his treatment of his country’s Muslim population like Jews in Nazi Germany after the French president called for new measures to crack down on Islamic extremism, RT reported Sunday.
Minister Shireen Mazari did not hold back with her criticisms of Macron’s insistence that Muslim leaders in France agree to a “charter of republican values,” among other policies aimed at discouraging ‘radicalism’.
Mazari isn’t the only public figure to denounce the French leader’s latest initiatives. British Labour MP Zarah Sultana said she was concerned about the “frightening direction” of Macron’s government, stating, “We must condemn Islam phobia & all forms of racism.”
“Macron is doing to Muslims what the Nazis did to the Jews – Muslim children will get ID numbers (other children won’t) just as Jews were forced to wear the yellow star on their clothing for identification,” the Pakistani minister tweeted on Saturday.
Read more: I did not apologize to French President, clarifies Shireen Mazari
Human rights Minister battered for calling on French president
Without mentioning Mazari by name, the French foreign ministry later issued a statement rebuking Shireen Mazari for using social media to spread ‘deeply shocking and insulting remarks’ about Macron that contained “blatant lies.” The ministry demanded that the Pakistani government ‘rectify’ ‘the incendiary’ comments.
The French Embassy in Pakistan was more direct, responding to Mazari’s tweet by saying: “Fake news and false accusation.”
The Pakistani Minister later deleted her Tweet saying that Macron’s law applies to all children. However, the fact remains that the primary target of the controversial law will be the Muslim population in France, which is the largest Muslim community in Europe.
The French Envoy to Pak sent me the following message and as the article I had cited has been corrected by the relevant publication, I have also deleted my tweet on the same. pic.twitter.com/mgOS5RFYwm
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) November 22, 2020
Under legislation submitted by Macron, each child in France would be given an identification number that would be used to ensure that they are attending school. Parents who keep their children at home could face fines and even jail time.
The proposed law is part of a larger package of new measures and bills put forward by the French president this week.
French president’s plan to counter the clutches of ‘Islamists’
In September, President Emmanuel Macron had already set out plans to tackle what he called the “Islamist separatism” in poor French neighborhoods, citing claims of children from Muslim families being taken out of school, and sporting and cultural associations being used to what he called indoctrinate youth.
“We must save our children from the clutches of the Islamists,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told Le Figaro newspaper on Wednesday. The legislation would ban homeschooling from the age of three.
On Wednesday, the French president took steps to impose a “charter of republican values” on the Muslim community and gave a 15-day deadline to the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) to accept the charter.
Read more: French President Macron issues new regulation for Muslims living in France
Eight leaders of the CFCM met with Macron and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin at the Élysée Palace for talks on Wednesday.
The CFCM agreed to create a National Council of Imams, which will offer official accreditation to imams living on French soil that could be withdrawn in case of violations, the BBC reported
Macron’s charter will state that Islam is a religion and not a political movement, and will prohibit “foreign interference” in Muslim groups.
The French government also unveiled a wide-ranging bill aimed at what it called preventing radicalization. It includes measures such as restrictions on home-schooling and giving children an identification number under the law that would be used to ensure they are attending school. Parents who break the law could face up to six months in jail as well as hefty fines, according to the BBC.
President of France Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech about the French Muslim community in which he claimed that ‘Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today, we are not just seeing this in our country’ and has expressed concern about ‘Islamic separatism’ and called to ‘liberate’ Islam.
Macron faces backlash from leaders
Mazari isn’t the only public figure to denounce the French leader’s latest initiatives. British Labour MP Zarah Sultana said she was concerned about the “frightening direction” of Macron’s government, stating, “We must condemn Islam phobia & all forms of racism.”
The UK’s Muslim Public Affairs Committee expressed similar displeasure with Macron, describing him as “not just a threat to law-abiding Muslim citizens, but to France & the EU itself.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest American Muslim civil advocacy group, earlier condemned Macron for attempting to “dictate the principles of the Islamic faith,” blasting the president’s proposed measures as “hypocritical and dangerous.”
Read more: French President Macron provokes Muslims worldwide by defending publication of blasphemous cartoons
In October, Washington, CAIR also called on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIFR) to investigate France’s ongoing campaign of “collective punishment” against the French Muslim community, as well as France’s longstanding history of turning anti-religious bigotry into government policy.
CAIR recently issued a travel advisory warning American Muslims against traveling to France amid the French government’s “hypocritical and dangerous” campaign of Islamophobic bigotry targeting French Muslims, mosques, and Islamic organizations.
Freedom of Speech only belongs to the French
Over the past 20 years, France has implemented numerous laws designed to limit and punish the free exercise of religion, especially among Muslims. France has banned students, teachers, and public servants from wearing visible signs of their faith, including hijabs, at school or at work.
French law also forbids people from wearing religious face veils in public, while simultaneously requiring them to wear medical facemasks. Police for wearing full-body swimsuits have also fined Muslim women in some areas of France.
President of France Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech about the French Muslim community in which he claimed that ‘Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today, we are not just seeing this in our country’ and has expressed concern about ‘Islamic separatism’ and called to ‘liberate’ Islam.
“We must save our children from the clutches of the Islamists,” interior minister Gérald Darmanin told Le Figaro newspaper on Wednesday.
The crackdown on Muslims comes after France saw a wave of attacks reportedly carried out by Muslim extremists. The string of violence began with the murder of schoolteacher Samuel Paty on October 16, who was beheaded by a Chechen refugee after showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson about free speech. Nearly two weeks later, three people were killed in a knife attack in Nice, France. The suspect is a Tunisian migrant.
Macron has become the target of protests and condemnation from around the Muslim world. Earlier this month, 50,000 people took to the streets in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka to protest against the French leader’s defense of the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The author is the chief editor of the Journal of America. He can be reached at asghazali2011@gmail.com.The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.