'Blatant lies': France asks Pakistan to withdraw comments that compared Macron to Nazis
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France's foreign ministry said that the remarks by the minister were 'hateful' and 'blatant lies', demanding Pakistan to 'rectify' the statements
France's foreign ministry has asked Pakistan to withdraw comments made by one of its ministers which accused President Emmanuel Macron of treating Muslims the way Germany's Nazis used to treat Jews during the Second World War.
Pakistan's Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on Saturday compared Macron to Jews, adding that Muslim children will get "ID numbers" in France just as Jews were forced to wear "yellow star".
"Macron is doing to Muslims what the Nazis did to the Jews - Muslim children will get ID numbers (other children won't) just as Jews were forced to wear the yellow star on their clothing for identification," Mazari wrote in a tweet.
Read link 4 source of story - if fake then get retraction of story published which I gave as link @FranceinPak instead of calling my tweet "fake"! Btw why are nuns allowed to wear their "habit" in public places but Muslim women not their hijab? Discrimination, n'est ce pas? pic.twitter.com/C7ApMN92EJ
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) November 22, 2020
Also read | France gives ultimatum to French Council of Muslim Faith
France's foreign ministry said that the remarks by the minister were "hateful" and "blatant lies", demanding Pakistan to "rectify" the statements.
"These hateful words are blatant lies, imbued with an ideology of hatred and violence. Such slander is unworthy of this level of responsibility. We reject them with the greatest firmness," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll, as reported by news agency Reuters.
"Pakistan must rectify these remarks and return to the path of a dialogue based on respect."
The latest row came at a time when there is strong anti-France sentiment in Pakistan over the publication of Prophet Muhammad's cartoon and Macron's comments on Islamist extremism.