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Tens of thousands march in Dhaka, burning the effigy of French President Emmanuel Macron for defending the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through the Bangladeshi capital, calling for a boycott of French products in outrage at President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of cartoons depicting the mounts of the Prophet Muhammad in the Muslim world.
Protesters burned an effigy of Macron during their march in Dhaka on Tuesday, chanting: “Boycott French goods” and calling for the French leader to be punished for his alleged Islamophobia.
Police estimated that more than 40,000 people took part in the march organized by the Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) party.
The protesters denounced French President Emmanuel Macron for his comments on the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
Macron has sparked outrage across the Muslim world by accusing Muslims of “separatism” and describing Islam as a “religion in crisis throughout the world.”
The French leader also announced a plan “to reform Islam” in order to make the country’s six million Muslims more compatible with France’s republican values.
Tensions escalated further after the murder of Samuel Paty, a high school teacher who showed his students drawings of Prophet Muhammad during a discussion on freedom of expression.
When Macron criticized Paty’s murder, he also defended cartoons of the prophet.
Since then, backlash over Macron’s comments has grown, with calls for the French envoy to be expelled from several Muslim-majority countries and a boycott of French products.
The march started from Dhaka’s Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
“Macron is one of the few leaders who worship Satan,” Ataur Rahman, a senior IAB leader, said at the rally at the Baitul Mukarram national mosque, from where the march began.
Rahman called on the Bangladeshi government to “expel” the French ambassador, while another leader, Hasan Jamal, said the activists would “tear down all the bricks in that building” if the envoy was not ordered out.
“France is the enemy of the Muslims. Those who represent them are also our enemies, ”said Nesar Uddin, a young party leader.
The march stopped before it could approach the French embassy in Dhaka.
Hundreds of officers used a barbed wire barricade to stop the protesters, who were marching peacefully.
The march stopped before it could approach the French embassy in Dhaka. [Munir Uz Zaman/AFP]
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