French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the establishment of the Forum of Islam in France in an effort to link extremism to Islam.
According to the International News Agency, French President Emmanuel Macron has instructed the country to create a new body or council to replace the "Council of Muslim Faith" established in 2003.
The French Interior Ministry said in a statement that the Council of Muslim Faith would be dissolved this month and replaced by a forum called the Forum of Islam in France.
The Forum of Islam in France will include imams of mosques, women, influential civil society figures, intellectuals and business leaders. These members will also be selected by the government itself.
The government is of the view that the purpose of forming this council is to separate extremism from Islam and mold it into the framework of secularism in France where the most important thing is to be French.
However, critics say the move was made by Emmanuel Macron to woo right-wing voters in the April presidential election.
On the other hand, leading leaders and representatives of the 5 million Muslims living in France have strongly opposed the council and there are indications of protests against it.
Muslim leaders say that through this council, extremism will be linked only to Islam and thus only the Muslim community will be humiliated.
Speaking to the international media, the Muslim representatives said that Muslims are not extremists but victims of extremism. Extremism is found in every community. This issue needs to be looked at beyond religion, color, race and language.
