Pakistan President Urges France to Show Restraint in Anti-Muslim Drive

Pakistan President Arif Alvi on Saturday urged the political leadership of France to show restraint and to forgo a bill targeting Muslims.

He says France should “not to entrench the discriminatory attitudes against Muslim into laws.”

He warns that such steps would lead to serious repercussions in the shape of hatred and conflict.

“You [France] need to bring people together and not to stamp a religion in a certain manner to create disharmony and bias”,” Alvi told an international conference on religious freedom and minorities rights. 

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2285206/president-cautions-france-against-enacting-anti-muslim-laws

His comments came after the overwhelming majority in favour of a bill by the French parliament’s lower house last week.

The bill strengthens oversight of mosques, in an act of discrimination against Muslims, says the Tribune, a newspaper in Pakistan.

Alvi says the French legislation was not in line with the United Nations Charter and contradicted the spirit of social harmony that Europe previously instilled in its society.

“Let there not be a retrogressive step for situations which arise out of animosity and for situations which are carried forward by the people who do not know about the real Islam,” he says. 

He also believes such a move would ultimately end up in a terrible scenario of hatred and hostility.