Hyderabad: Hundreds of posters depicting French President Emmanuel Macron in poor light were found stuck on roads in the Old City and IS Sadan Circle on Sunday. The flurry of posters are essentially a reaction by Hyderabad’s Muslims here against the French government’s reaction to to extremist actions (beheadings) as cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.
The posters, which depicted Macron’s face being stamped on (with shoe prints), were seen in areas like Vattepally and IS Sadan on Sunday. Those were stuck on a busy road in the areas, with pedestrians and motorists both not have any choice but to drive or walk over Macron’s face.
While a few Muslim organisations have raised their voices against France’s brutal clampdown on its Muslim community as reaction to violent attacks by alleged Islamist extremists, this was the first time that such posters were seen in Hyderabad. Last month, a teacher was beheaded by a man in France, after the former showed his students cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.
It was followed by an attack on a church, wherein another person was beheaded, while a few others were stabbed. Many Muslims, while condemning the violence by extremists, have also raised their voices against the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed, drawn by the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was also the victim of an extremist attack some years ago.
On Sunday, the posters of Macron were also quickly noticed by the Hyderabad city police, which quickly removed the posters by late afternoon. Across several places, the posters were seen being driven over and walked over by vehicles and people. The deed was a reaction by organisations in protest against the French President’s perceived attacks on Islam.
Vatepally and IS Sadan near Saidabad are Muslim-majority areas. The Vatepally road is a famous place which houses several hotels. Two days earlier on Friday, the city also witnessed a muted Eid-ul-Milad festivities, as there was no largescale protest barring stray posters being displayed against Macron.
It is not yet known who had stuck these posters and no police case has yet been filed. The Same was also done by the Muslim organisations on Mohammed Ali Road in Mumbai.