NEW DELHI, KOMPAS.com – When Muslim around the world protested and expanded their call to boycott the product France for President Emmanual Macron’s comments about Islam and filming Nabi Muhammad, tagar with different messages trending on India who are predominantly Hindu.
Launch Al Jazeera on Tuesday (27/10/2020), #IStandWithFrance and #WeStandWithFrance were among the top trends on Indian Twitter on Monday and Tuesday, with thousands of Indian users expressing their solidarity with France.
Macron has sparked outrage across the Muslim world by accusing French Muslims of “separatism” and describing Islam as “a religion in crisis around the world”.
Also read: Prophet Muhammad’s Cartoon Controversy, Iran Show French President as a Devil
Problems escalated after Macron said his country would not “leave cartoon“Prophet Muhammad, after a French teacher was tragically killed.
Macron’s remarks caused outrage in the Muslim world, with protesters in several Muslim-majority countries, including Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh, calling for a boycott of French goods and demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador to their nation’s capital.
However, in India, where critics have expressed sentiment anti-Muslim has risen since the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, many demonstrating in support of the French leader.
Also read: Muslim Leaders in France Ask Muslims to Ignore Cartoon of Prophet Muhammad
“Tolerance must also be secular. #IStandWithFrance. Congratulations, President of France, ”wrote Parvesh Sahib Singh, a BJP MP on Twitter.
Earlier this year, India received 5 French-made Rafale fighter jets, the first of a controversial $ 9.4 billion deal with France signed in 2016.
Tagar others related to Macron’s sayings trending on Indian Twitter on Tuesday, including #WellDoneMacron and #MacronTHEHERO.
Also read: Protests Arising, France Urges Its Citizens in Muslim Countries to Be Careful
Anti-Muslim sentiment in India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been accused of pursuing an anti-Muslim policy, with a controversial citizenship law that excludes the Muslim community.
The Indian government defends the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying it aims to protect persecuted minorities in neighboring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Protests over the law earlier this year led to New Delhi’s worst religious violence in decades, killing dozens of people, most of them Muslim, and displacing thousands.
Also read: French President and the Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Controversy
Many Muslims have been charged under strict anti-terror laws following violence in Delhi with people being jailed and not given bail.
Last week, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, pointed to three “problematic” Indian laws, including the CAA, that led to the arrests of activists.
Since 2014, dozens of Muslims have also been hanged by Hindu mobs on suspicion of slaughtering cows, which many Hindus consider sacred.
Human rights groups have criticized India for its slow sentences in hate crimes cases against Muslims.
Also read: Iran Accuses French President of Inciting Extremism
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