Understanding the boycott of France by Islamic countries and the recent incidents in France and how it leaves us with countless lessons for us to think about

//Islamic Countries referred here are the states of Organisation of Islamic Nations (OIC). This is purely factual and meant for education/awareness and not for hurting individual religious or political sentiments.// 

On October 2nd, French President Emanuel Macron had informed that he will strengthen the Separation of Church and the State Law in France which was established in 1905. The French Secularism law is also known as laïcité. The most controversial part of his speech was "Islamic Separatism" in France. Turkey, which also follows the same laws of secularism, but is now lead by an Islamic Nationalist dictatorial leader Erdogan was the first and strongest critic of these statements. Similar reactions followed in Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan, etc where is freedom and democracy while the Arab states still continued the silence. 

Recent incidents in France

Was Macron right in making these statements? Everyone is divided over it. France is a country that supports absolute Freedom of Speech and there is no law against blasphemy. France has around 10% of the local population of Muslims and it also accepts refugees and immigrants from various war-torn countries which are predominantly Muslim nations. Even during elections, one of the main political issues is immigration and the rise of Islamophobia across the continent. Marine Le pen is a controversial right-wing politician who stands for French nationalism and anti-immigration and anti-refugees. One of her main ideology is Islamophobia in France and why it's borders need to be closed.  So it is very hard that this issue gets died down easily and the Government is bound by the pressure surrounding it. 

Credits- France 24

Read in detail about Secularism and French Secularism 

Charlie Hebdo is a popular satirical paper and magazine in France. It got massive attention only in recent years, especially after Europe had decided to accept Muslim refugees. It is a paper which critics, religion, religious practices and religious extremism. In 2015, it was in a controversy after it had published cartoons/caricatures on Prophet Muhammed which Muslims across the world consider it to be blasphemy. In 2015, there was a shooting by two Muslim brothers at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris which killed a lot of people and several minor attacks followed later. The astonishing thing is that ISIS claimed responsibility for all these attacks. It later published these cartoons not just in France but across the world. 

Credits- The Times

About French Secularism 

Laicite as we discussed above is one of the strongest secular laws in the world. The law is so strict that the schools in France cannot allow students with religious symbols. Also, the public doesn't have the freedom to roam around in the religious dress. Article 1 of the French Constitution declares it as the Secular Republic with each person given the freedom to follow any religion in private. It also gives absolute Freedom of Blasphemy. 

Credits- Al Jazeera

What is the controversy now? Why is it debate right now?

On September 2020, Charlie Hebdo republished the same cartoon on Prophet Muhammed as the trial in the 2015 case began. For the majority of the French people, this paper was a symbol of secularism and freedom of speech. The main location of Carlie Hebdo office is now a secret location. October 2020, Macron announces new legislation. In late October, we woke up to hear the news of a terror attack in France, where a school teacher named Samuel Paty was beheaded. He had allegedly shown the cartoons of Prophet Muhammed to the students in his class after sending away the Muslim students in the class. This incident became the talking point of the world for days. He was proclaimed a martyr and symbol of French Freedom of Speech. The President Macron himself, went on for his funeral to pay homage to his body. The attacker was identified to be an 18-year-old immigrant from Chechnya in Russia, and he was shot dead by the police in the encounter that followed. 

Credits- French consulate general, New York

The death of Samuel Paty saw millions in France onto the street despite the increasing Covid-19 case standing in solidarity with the departed soul and speaking against blasphemy. Later that week, Turkish President Erdogan called Macron to mind his words and said that French Secularism was in danger. Pakistan PM Iman Khan was also angry and he was concerned about the increasing Islamophobic wave. Protests led by people triggered in Bangladesh, Malaysia and so on. Several attacks followed in Nice and later in Lyon in two weeks. It was also followed by a massive terror attack in Vienna, Austria which is considered to be one of the safest countries in Europe. 

Soon after the attack happened in Paris, Macron ensured strict action. He said he will work against Separatism and free Islam in France from foreign influences. Following that, he assured action against radicals who are doing these in the name of religion, but who are not actual believers. He went on to say that he will protect true believers and the citizens of the Republic. The new proposed law stated that Islamic Organisations accepting funding must sign the Secular Charter.

Few facts and misconceptions regarding Blasphemy 

Blasphemy is defined as the act of speaking against any aspect of God, religion, sacred, holy entities etc. Although we include all of these, blasphemy is not the license for stereotypes, discrimination or hate speech. Unlike what we really used to think blasphemy is blaming religions but supporting its people. Like, I can criticise XXXX religion but not spread hate against its followers. 

Should blasphemy be legal or not?

It depends on how well you can define religion and holy things legally. Is considering your favourite sportsperson or film actor or a political a God and thus criticising him/her makes it a blasphemy? So making an anti-blasphemy law is not so easy as we think. Blasphemy is one of the highly punished crimes in the world, which means that just a few words, statements or graphics can land you in jail, life imprisonment, or even death. Isn't it hilarious, what do you think? 

Boycott of France 

The interior minister of France, Gérald Darmanin declared investigations into these attacks and detained hundreds of people in the case. Raids were conducted in their homes and online. Organisations doing hate speeches online were banned including the popular- CCIF. Mosques and Islamic schools were also shut down in the name. The ministers also stated that they will deport those people who violate the law of the land and those having extreme beliefs. Countries across the world supported France while others were concerned regarding its witch-hunt of Muslims in the country is not acceptable. It also led to a massive one to one fight between France and Turkey.

Credits- Associated Press

Hashtags like boycottfrance, boycottfrenchproducts trended across the world. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran etc have already claimed to have removed French products from their selves. Many other countries and local populations have volunteered to support the initiative. As per all these countries, everyone believes that Islam is being single-handedly being targeted in the secular western world and presently France. While another large number of others Gave full support to France and asked to buy more French products. 

Credits- Al Jazeera

Analysis of the issue- the politics and hypocrisy 

We come back to the important question, who is right and who is wrong? To answer that we need to look into their intentions. First, we look into Emanuel Macron and his plan. Is he an Islamophobic? He is not, he is a centrist, he has always stood for secularism and multilateralism. His intentions through the legislations will be to develop France into a more secular and an accommodative nation. Even after the attacks happen, he wanted to protect the French values, Freedom of Speech and Secularism which also includes the freedom of blasphemy. Samuel Paty is an ordinary citizen in the suburb of Paris, he has all the rights and privileges. He can make blasphemous statements, but should he be doing that in a class of young kids, creating hatred between communities, we can disagree here. It pretty much looks like that Laicite is not showing its expected result. France instead of saying that the country is secure and that all communities will be protected, it tried to show its muscle and behaved in a way which has angered some countries. 

Credits-WSJ

The Chechnyan immigrant who beheaded Samuel Paty was concerned about blasphemy, he might have been concerned about the anti-immigrant policies and Islamophobia too. But, is it right to engage in violence? No, absolutely not, its illegal, inhuman and highly condemnable. His family could have filed a police complaint and let the Police investigate and take appropriate action. Wouldn't that have made him a responsible immigrant? Even the Quran has strict norms against people engaging in violence and killing others. But these people or even we can say terrorists violate the basic principles of Islam while trying to defend it and that's a very important point which everyone highlights. 

Coming to France as a country and European Union which accepts refugees and immigrants through the same law, want their borders to be secure, their population to be kept safe and at the time better management of resources. That is why the EU has always been divided. From terrorism has no religion, to step against radical Islam, EU is being polarised, along with Donald Trump taking a strong stand against Radical Islamic Terrorism. 

Islamic Nations have always taken a stance that terrorism has no religion and Islam is a religion of peace. Often these nations have been the punching bag between the West and Russia, like Syria, Libya, Iraq, Iran etc. Islamic nations are divided between Shias and Sunnis, Africa vs the Middle East vs East Asia, Rich vs Poor and lot more. Despite that, the majority of nations are still non-secular, they are theocratic states, they are intolerant to dissent and protests, they are intolerant to diversity and they are mainly monarchs and dictators. So it is natural to ask, who are you all these nations to pinpoint the Largest and Richest Liberal, Secular, Democratic model of the world France and the best example of multilateral democratic institutions - the European Union about Liberalism and Secularism?

Credits- Good reads

So a general question everyone asks these concerned nations, will be- It's fine, You have a lot of concern for the International Community or for the Global Muslim community to be precise which Shekhar Gupta in his latest National Interest termed as "Pan Islamism". Where is your concern for the persecuted Uighur Muslims in China? Not even a single country in the OIC had even raised their finger over this issue. Leave Pakistan aside and the Arab states under Monarchs, even the democratic states like Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia also haven't uttered a word. Similarly, Rohingyas are the majority of persecuted Muslims in Myanmar. These refugees are in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The Syrian and Iraqi refugees are in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey etc. None of the rich Arabs states has accepted them. Saudi Arabia is accused of bombing Yemenis through airstrikes. The state of Qatar is under blockade by its neighbours. The press is not free in the majority of these countries. Turkey has the highest number of journalists jailed in the world. The condition of minorities in all these countries is also worrying. This human rights concern is nothing but one-sided and hypocrisy. A great country like Turkey is stooping low. In almost all of these countries, blasphemy is illegal and is punishable by death in most nations. 

Read about changing Islamic nations' foreign policy with India. 

Coming to the boycott, we have already discussed in the previous article in detail, how a boycott of China called by India is nothing but a political shortcut which is not working at all and nothing but a political lollipop. Similarly, we see that happening off with the French boycott as well. Many of the people (including me) can't even count five popular French products. All that we can think of will be Renault vehicles and Airbus aeroplanes. So will this mean that people will stop travelling in Renault cars, or travelling on flights? Or people will take decisions like stop eating French fries or Croissants? This movement is nothing but a failed strategy. 

Read about facts vs myths about India's Boycott China movement. 

Solutions and the way forward

More the Islamic nations, call for the boycott of France and west, the hatred against Muslims across the world will be more and that is dangerous and it should not happen. A good relationship between all these nations is important. France is an important contributor to many of the countries' economy and aid in Northern Africa, so these countries can not even afford to break their ties. France as a nation at least could have come out with a press statement or a formal address that Immigrants and Minorities will be safe and will not be single-handled targeted without any reason. 

The so-called Guardian Islamic nations and their leaders must go into self-introspection, at least into their own countries for some time. It is time they shed their hypocrisy and become a bit more tolerant, at least with respect to the Human Rights issues in their own countries. Fight against terrorism cannot happen in isolation. Society needs reform parallelly as well. It should happen at the global level since its now a global phenomenon and almost all countries are affected by it. 

Credits- Weforum

The recent incidents in France exactly show how divided is our society as well as the world as a whole. Crimes based on religion, sects and demography has been increasing throughout the world. This is all based on identity and ideology. No developed world can accept these in their societies. A divided world is a recipe for disaster and that is what this pandemic has taught us. We are dependant on each other more than ever. We need to work together. Multilateral organisations need to be strengthened. We are in of unity in diversity than divisions in society. Solutions to religion-based crimes and conflicts have been discussed in detail in that blog. 

Read about religion, society and politics. 

Even though Macron has the right intentions, the chances that the French Muslims will be alienated in society and might feel victimised. Although he has tried his best not to hurt the religious sentiments, the actions like the closing of Mosques are a bad sign for the community. He needs to work more to integrate them into the main society well. At the same time, the law of the land is supreme, it is very important that appropriate actions are taken to hold people involved accountable. The moves were taken by the EU and various countries throw a bad light on refugees and are a violation of Human Rights and UDHR. Minorities and Immigrants will feel more alienated and more hate crimes might come into the light. Terrorist groups like ISIS can breed easily on such grounds. Societies across the world are growing more polarised and intolerant. 

References

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