Hyderabad: Anti-France protests were held at Nampally against French President Emmanuel Macron over the controversy over a cartoon drawn of the Prophet Muhammad by French satire paper Charlie Hebdo. The protests were held amid a second incident of extremism in the European nation, wherein a second person was beheaded in an alleged terror attack in a church.
The Tahreek-E-Islami Hyderabad, a Sunni Muslim organisation, staged a protest on Friday morning at Nampally. Protesters chanted “Boycott French products” and called for President Macron to be punished for his comments on Islam.
Hundreds of people protested demanding a boycott of French goods amid a row over France’s tougher stance on radical Islam. They stomped on photos of President Emmanuel Macron, who had defended cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Macron has become a target in several countries after his defence of French secularism.
Speaking at the demonstration, Mufti Mohammed Asif Bilal Quadri Barkati, President of the Tahreek E Islami, demanded that the union government ask the India’s French Ambassador to register a protest against France’s “anti-Muslim” stand. He accused Macron of supporting offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad and intentionally hurting the sentiments of Muslims.
“France is the enemy of Muslims and President Macron is spreading hatred against Muslims,” said, Moulana Mohammed Farooq Raza Quadri.