President Macron's statements have hurt the sentiments of so many Muslims around the worldBogor, W Java (ANTARA) - Indonesia's former House of Representatives (DPR) speaker, Fadli Zon, joined calls to boycott French goods in response to President Emmanuel Macron's statements on Islam and support for depiction and publication of cartoons on Prophet Muhammad.
"President Macron's statements have hurt the sentiments of so many Muslims around the world," the lawmaker, representing the Great Indonesian Movement (Gerindra) Faction at the House, was quoted by ANTARA as saying on his Twitter account here, Thursday.
"(Macron is) an example of a leader from an Islamophobic, discriminative, and racist country, and therefore, let us boycott French products!" he asserted.
The Indonesian government has also denounced French President Macron's remarks on Islam and support for portrayal and publication of cartoons on Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that sparked much ire in the Islamic World.
To register its protest, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry summoned French Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor Leste, Olivier Chambard, on Tuesday (October 27, 2020) and sought an explanation for Macron's controversial statements.
Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Teuku Faizasyah, told ANTARA on Wednesday that Ambassador Chambard was summoned to apprise him of Indonesia's official stance on the anti-Islam remarks made recently by Macron in a speech.
The Indonesian government has objected to President Macron's comments linking Islam to terrorism or extremism, asserting that associating any religion to acts of terror was unjustifiable and would deeply offend adherents of the religions, Faizasyah emphasized.
Macron's remarks following the beheading of Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, for showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad during a class on October 6, 2020, have sparked controversy and fueled a backlash from Muslims worldwide over the past few days.
The governments of Muslim majority nations, including Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia, have condemned Macron's "anti-Islam" remarks and "Islamophobic" behavior.
Meanwhile, Muslims at the grassroots have also voiced their fury and disappointment over Macron's defense of the right to reprint and depict caricatures of Prophet Muhammad by staging anti-France rallies and intensifying campaigns for boycotting French goods.
Paty was killed by Abdullakh Anzorov, 18, on October 16, 2020. Anzorov, who was later shot dead by the French police, had felt offended over Paty showing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad to students.
"France will not give up our cartoons," Macron had stated in response to Paty's death, as reported by the BBC.
Following his death, Paty was bestowed the Légion d'honneur, France's highest honor.
In the aftermath of his murder, cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad, made by Charlie Hebdo, were projected onto public buildings.
In response to Macron's Islamophobic behavior and hostility towards Islam, deputy chairman of the Acehnese Ulema Consultative Assembly (MPU), Faisal Ali, had appealed to the Indonesian government to join the calls for boycotting French products in Indonesia.
"The government's participation will demonstrate that Indonesia, with the biggest Muslim population in the world, has felt offended by French President Emmanuel Macron's intolerance towards Islam and Muslims," he remarked.
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Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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