Authoritarianism or measures against terrorism s

 

Zarak Bugti

The crisis in France cannot be understated, the situation is worsening because of Islamic terrorism and one must understand that the leaders are fearful of the situation. But, is Macron turning towards authorization rather than solving the issue by other means? Let us explore.

Macron came about claiming to be a liberal leader, but his proposed laws regarding the ‘Islamic separatism’, his spectacle showcasing Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons are disturbing for the forward-looking people of the world.

The terrorist attacks in France at the end of last year were numerous, including the assassination of a school teacher for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Macron responding to the incidents promised his nation that he would crack down on extremism. His first proposed law was the so-called "Security law”, this law in question made it illegal to take photographs or make videos of security personnel including the police. This would’ve stopped the media from scrutinizing the police and as a consequence made the police immune to any criticism. Police brutality has been an issue in France for a very long time, recent incidents of police brutality took place during the ‘Yellow Vest Protests’ and the ‘Black Lives Matter Movement’. Naturally, this law was scrapped in the wake of huge protests by the French people. This law was totalitarian in nature, maybe the French president’s thought that; "If you see no evil, there is no evil”, in a country if security personnel are not held accountable then that country is no democracy at the very least.

This was not the only law proposed by Emmanuel Macron, there was another. A more sinister one, the law against "Islamic Separatism”. The law was pitched as an attempt to fight Islamic Separatism, he claimed that Muslims are a parallel society in France and they don’t respect the Republican values. The law gives the government power to shut down places of worship that do not respect the Republican values. It also restricts many other things, including homeschooling along with many other things. Some very good restrictions are there like banning of virginity tests, forced marriage, foreign funding of religious establishments and polygamy, some of these things make a lot of sense and are indeed very good. But, the current government has demonstrated that they will abuse the powers that they have, the Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin used the powers to ban organizations without any proof. The first target of the law was ‘Collective Against Islamophobia in France’ (CCIF), and The community organization BarakaCity, terming them "Enemies of the Republic”. Using these powers is not counter-terrorism rather subjecting Muslims to restrictions. Though the law does not state anywhere the word Muslim or Islam, the intent is clear.

The French version of secularism is not freedom of religion, but freedom from religion. In 2004 France implemented the ban on wearing religious symbols in schools. The law was neutral in theory, but the intent was clear, to ban Hijabs in schools, not to forget it was a national debate about Hijabs that inspired the law. At the time the law was justified by the same argument that Macron makes "protection of French secularism”, but a large scale study in 2019 by Aala Abdelgadir and Vasiliki Fouks, proved that reduced the chances of Muslim girls finishing secondary school and as a consequence decreased their chances of getting a job and increased discrimination against Muslims. In addition to that, rather than integrating Muslims into French society, this law stigmatized the Muslims, so the study revealed that Muslim women were more likely to identify with the nationality of their parents rather than with France. The problem is if one aims to integrate Muslims then these repulsive and sometimes hostile laws are not the way to do it. The government dictating the personal and religious life of people is authoritarian.

The main reason that Macron won the French elections was because he was the only alternative to right-wing leader Marine Le Pen. Yet, he himself has shown a tendency to be assertive and concentrate power. Macron lost his majority when several leftist MPs left his own party, along with that his approval rating is 39 per cent in France. The problem is his rival Marine, the right-wing leader is very close in approval ratings and the elections are approaching soon, so Macron’s motivation for Islamophobic policies could be to win over the supporters of Marine. The right-wing leader created a discourse against Muslim immigrants and as a result, some self-proclaimed moderates like Macron are forced to bring forth harsh laws.

Macron’s competition with the populist leader Marine Le Pen is taking him and the French republic towards authoritarianism. France already has an extensive anti-terrorism infrastructure, but with each new president, the government gets more powers to intrude into people’s lives, France is becoming a country where every aspect of life is regulated and where the government can spy on people. Not only the Republican values will be defeated, it will not increase Muslim integration, but it will increase Muslim radicalization.