Bhopal: The State Government has taken a strong stand against those who demonstrated against French President Emmanuel Macron in Bhopal on Thursday. Congress leader Arif Masood along with 50 others arrested for protesting against French President at Bhopal's Iqbal Maidan.
A case was registered against the demonstrators on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reacted strongly and said Madhya Pradesh is an island of peace. "We will deal with those who disturbed its peace with strictness. In this case, the action is being taken by registering a case under section 188 of the IPC. No culprit will be spared, whoever it is."
French President Emmanuel Macron recently spoke of taking strict actions against Islamic fundamentalists. Demonstrations are continuing worldwide against Macron's statement. There were fierce protests against Macron in Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Sporadic protests were also seen in some places in India.
Why the controversy over Macron's statement
France is a country in Europe where Muslims constitute 10 per cent of the population. Most of them include people from other countries or colonies of France. France has been the target of terrorist organisations after the emergence of IS in Syria and Iraq. After several terrorist attacks, President Macron spoke of fighting Islamic terrorism and radicalism. In a recent interview, Macron described Islam as a crisis in religion, calling France's secularism paramount.
A few days ago, a teacher in France was beheaded for showing an objectionable cartoon of Prophet Mohammed in his class. After the incident, Macron spoke of taking strict action against radical forces. After this, many activists were detained in France and some NGOs were also closed.
India's Foreign Ministry has also condemned the verbal attacks on the French President, while some leaders have also expressed support to Macron.
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