French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Pakistani authorities to withdraw a controversial statement by Human Rights Minister Shirin Mazari against the move to allocate "identity numbers" exclusively to Muslim children in France.
"Emmanuel Macron is treating Muslims the same way the Nazis treated the Jews, including forcing Jews in Nazi Germany to wear a yellow star on their clothes for identification," Mazari said yesterday. Was
Later, French Foreign Minister Agnes van der Mahal reacted sharply to Mazari's statement, saying "these hateful words are based on outright lies, hate, and violence."
He vehemently rejected Mazari's statement as slander.
The Foreign Minister added that Paris had informed the Pakistani embassy of its strong condemnation of the remarks.
He also said that "Pakistan should withdraw these statements and move towards dialogue on the basis of respect."
In response, Shirin Mazari sent two tweets.
In the first tweet, Mazari said, "The French ambassador sent me a message that the article you were referring to was Nazi and Jewish. In fact, the information in this article was incorrect."
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
"The identification number is for children all over the country," Mazari added, so I deleted my first tweet.
Later in the second tweet, Shirin Mazari responded by condemning the French Foreign Ministry.
Read link 4 source of story - if fake then get retraction of story published which I gave as link @FranceinPak instead of calling my tweet "fake"! Btw why are nuns allowed to wear their "habit" in public places but Muslim women not their hijab? Discrimination, n'est ce pas? pic.twitter.com/C7ApMN92EJ
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) November 22, 2020
"Please read the relevant link before calling my tweet a lie," he tweeted in support of his position.
Mazari added that one thing is for sure, why are nuns allowed to wear their 'habit' in public places when Muslim women cannot wear hijab? Why this discriminatory attitude?
It may be recalled that the controversial implementation of the 'Charter of Republican Value' by the French President Emmanuel Macron on the Muslim community and the allocation of 'identity numbers' exclusively to Muslim children under it had sparked a new debate.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that ID Numbers would be exclusively for Muslim children in France. This has been amended to reflect the fact that the draconian measures within the bill will be in place for all children..(continued) https://t.co/DJRq1tGiMJ
— France in Pakistan (@FranceinPak) November 22, 2020
However, Mazari tweeted that the article on the Charter of Republican Value contained incomplete information and that identification numbers would be for all children.
According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Emmanuel Macron has given the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM) a 15-day deadline to accept the charter.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the CFCM agreed to set up a National Council for Imams, which would officially approve all imams living on French soil and return in case of violation.
The French president's charter states that Islam is a religion and not a political movement and that "foreign interference" in Muslim groups will be banned.
This is not the first time that an anti-Islamic statement has been made by the French president.
French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled France's defense plans against secular "fundamentalist Islam" and made anti-Islamic statements.
He named countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey and stressed the need to "liberate Islam from foreign influences" in France.
