France slams Pak minister for comments on Macron, summons envoy

at 9:16 pm

New Delhi (NVI): France has slammed Pakistan’s Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari for certain critical comments by her against President Emmanuel Macron and lodged a strong protest by summoning Pakistan’s envoy.

After the French protest, the minister in the Imran Khan government was forced to delete the controversial tweet.

In a tweet yesterday, Pakistan Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari claimed that French President Emmanuel Macron was treating Muslims like Nazis had treated Jews in World War 2. The French embassy took a serious note of the comment and exposed the minister’s fake propaganda.

The Pakistan minister posted the comments while responding to a news report that claimed that French President Macron had given a 15-day ultimatum to the French Council of the Muslim Faith — an organization with the country’s top Muslim leaders to accept a ‘charter of republican values’ as part of his fight against so-called “radical Islam” within France.

Responding to the news report, Mazari took to Twitter saying: “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.”

However, Mazari deleted her tweet after the French embassy in Pakistan issued a statement, exposing her fake propaganda to insult the French President.

The minister posted her comments while sharing a news report published by a website called the Muslim Vibe, without caring to check for the facts.

“Today, a member of the Pakistani cabinet has expressed views through social media, in terms that are deeply shocking and insulting for the President of the Republic and for our country,” the French embassy in Pakistan said in the statement.

“These despicable words are blatant lies, loaded with an ideology of hatred and violence. Such slanderous comments are disgraceful at such level of responsibility. We reject them strongly.

In the statement, the embassy also mentioned that the Pakistan Charge d affaires was summoned in Paris over the matter. “Pakistan must rectify this statement and return to the path of dialogue based on respect,” the embassy said.

Noted Pakistani writer and NYT columnist Bina Shah also corrected the Pakistan minister: “Madame Minister, the proposed ID would be for all children in France. Just like in Pakistan, where as soon as you register a child’s birth, the child gets assigned a 13 digit number which is then their NIC number when they reach 18.”

Bina was retweeted by the French embassy in Pakistan. Another Twitter user and editor at Global Village Space, Najma Minhas, said that Shireen’s tweet was “poor in taste” and based on “incorrect facts”.

“Extremely poor in taste and what’s worse based on incorrect facts. You would think she should check before making such a tweet given her position double check!”, she tweeted.

“Minister 4 HR statement against France is poor in taste and uncalled 4 for a cabinet minister. FP is sensitive subject should be left 2 FO to deal w/. Cheap politics & playing 2 gallery is not right way to handle foreign relations,” read another tweet by Jan Achakzai, a columnist based in Pakistan.

The controversial comments on Twitter by the Pakistan minister came amid tensions between Pakistan and France over the publication of images of Prophet Mohammad by a French magazine. The images have sparked anger and protests in the Muslim world, especially in Pakistan.

-ARK

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