By Naila Inayat
5 November,
2020
I remember
vividly how former US President George W. Bush’s photographs were pasted on the
floor tiles of a shopping centre in Lahore as a protest against the attack on
Afghanistan in 2001. The same War on Terror in which Pakistan was an ally of
the United States. In some shops, even former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s photos were pasted on the ground, and people walked over it as a
symbol of insult. Today, French President Emmanuel Macron’s defaced photos are
being pasted on the floors of the same bazaars for people to step on. This
time, the protest is against the ‘blasphemy’ of the French government and
Charlie Hebdo republishing the controversial cartoons.
File photo | Pakistan Prime Minister
Imran Khan | Facebook/ImranKhanOfficial
-----
Calls for
protests were inevitable. Taking a lead on the protest front was the National
Assembly of Pakistan, which, in its unanimous resolution, urged the Imran Khan
government to recall its ambassador from France. Seemed like a strong
condemnation at the time, but there was no Pakistani ambassador to be recalled.
A curious case of a missing ambassador that no one in the assembly clearly knew
about.
Not curious
at all was the demand of nuking France. There is always a “let’s do atomic
attack” constituency ready in Pakistan — whether against France or India.
Sometimes there is a reason, but most of the time, it is as if someone
mistakenly rang their doorbell and they have an atom bomb ready for it. An
always-triggered Khadim Hussain Rizvi just wants to wipe off France from the
face of the earth, no matter if we get killed in the process too.
That’s
where Pakistan is at this week.
While the
social media teams trend ‘Shame on you Macro’, there was a ‘Macron-cutting’
ceremony on display at the notorious Jamia Hafsa madrassa (of Lal Masjid fame)
in Islamabad. A teacher was recorded beheading an effigy of President Macron as
young female students chanted ‘Ghustak-e-Nabi ki aik hi saza, sar tan se juda
(Beheading is the only punishment for those who blaspheme the Prophet)’.
The
‘Boycott France’ campaign has kicked in, and it does seem that Pakistan will
bankrupt France on its own. Don’t ask how.
What
Pakistan is not boycotting are its French defence toys, like those Agosta and
Daphné class submarines, the fleet of Mirage fighter jets that it bought from
Egypt, or even the French-made Exocet missiles. So, those asking for an atomic
attack on France, please sit down. The atom bomb-ETA is not on our side either,
France being some 6,000 km away can’t be nuked even with Pakistan’s longest
range missile Shaheen 3. Or maybe Pakistan’s French Airbus could carry them.
The defence
toys are not up for boycott, but if France wants to donate the
much-talked-about Rafales to Pakistan instead of sending them to India that can
be considered too. We have heard India missed having those jets in time for
Balakot.
Also, as a
protest, Pakistan can say it won’t be returning a penny of the French loan of
Rs 19.5 billion to the Imran Khan government for the rapid bus service in
Peshawar. Prime Minister Khan can write a letter explaining the French loan
situation to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. He recently wrote to him anyway on the
growing ‘Islamophobia’ on social media.
French Fries To French Kiss
What
happens in smaller countries like Pakistan is that when product boycotts are
announced, the local industry suffers more. As in the case of the boycott of
French petrol station Total. At one Total station in Johar Town, petrol and
diesel sales have declined by 60 per cent. Similarly, boycott campaigns are on
against products that aren’t even French. The LU Biscuit company is being
smeared by its opponents as a French company, when it is a local brand,
co-owned by a Pakistani businessman and an American multinational.
Let’s focus
on things that ‘should be boycotted’ by Pakistani people. All French things are
now haram be it shampoo, dye, cosmetics of Garnier, L’Oréal and others. French
fries, which are not French, and the French macaroon, which is French, must be
on the list too. The call to boycott French toast will resonate with most as
eggs are already selling at Rs 200 per dozen in Pakistan, so a boycott will
actually save you money more than it will impact France. On the fashion front,
it is time to give up making French braids and adorning those French beards.
Does all this
mean that the replica of Eiffel Tower in Lahore will be deserted with no
fireworks on this New Year’s Eve? After all, those of us who couldn’t get visas
to see the real Eiffel Tower could at least have posed in front of the Lahori
replica. Talking about New Year’s Eve, boycott the French kiss too.
The token
France boycott will continue for a while, but what will remain constant in
Pakistan are the acts of vigilantism in the name of blasphemy. On Wednesday, a
bank manager was shot dead by a security guard allegedly over ‘blasphemy’ in
Khushab, Punjab. Becoming an instant hero, the guard was seen addressing and
waving at his ‘supporters’ from the rooftop of the police station. Is this what
Pakistan wants the West to adopt in the name of blasphemy?
----
Naila Inayat is a freelance journalist from
Pakistan. Views are personal.
Original Headline: French President, shampoo,
cosmetics are all haram in Pakistan. Just not French defence toys
Source: The Print
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-west/from-calls-nuke-france-beheading/d/123389
New
Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism