Bangladesh: 50,000 people participate in anti-France rally

In Bangladesh, at least 50,000 people staged a protest against French President Emmanuel Macron over how he dealt with the publication of Prophet Muhammad’s caricature.

Earlier, Macron had claimed that Islam was “in crisis” all over the world. Muslims around the world claim that Macron’s defence of the cartoon’s publication is insulting to the prophet, prompting global backlash. 

Many countries around the world have also moved on to boycotting French products. The rally began in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh at a mosque. Before they could reach the French embassy, they were stopped by the security forces.

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According to the police, at least 50,000 people participated in the protests, calling for a blanket boycott of French goods. According to the organisers, more than 100,000 people took part in the protests. According to Al Jazeera, the protesters were chanting “No defamation of the Prophet Muhammad” and also burned an effigy of the French president.

Last month, a French teacher Samuel patty was murder for showing his class a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. Macron had added that it would never renounce the laws that permit blasphemous caricatures in the country.

Tens of thousands of Muslims protested in Bangladesh after French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to stand firm to guard French values following knife attack in the city of Nice. The protesters marched through streets of Dhaka and called fora boycott on French products. The crowd carried banners calling Macron "the world's biggest terrorist.

"Macron is leading Islamophobia," said demonstrator Akramul Haq. "He doesn't know the power of Islam. The Muslim world will not let this go in vain. We'll rise and stand in solidarity against him.""

French products are already being boycotted in some countries in the Middle East.

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France raised its security alert to the highest level on Thursday after a knife-wielding man shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) beheaded an elderly woman in a church in Nice and killed two more people before being shot and taken away by police.

"We will not give any ground," Macron said outside the church in the French Riviera city of Nice, promising to deploy thousands more soldiers to guard sites such as places of worship and schools.

France had been attacked "over our values, for our taste for freedom, for the ability on our soil to have freedom of belief", he added.