'Blatant lies': France lambasts Pak Minister for comparing Macron to Nazis over fake news

Pakistan's Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari posted a controversial tweet on Sunday alleging that French President Emmanuel Macron was treating Muslims like ‘Nazis treated Jews in World War II’. She, however, withdrew her objectionable remark after receiving backlash from the Foreign Ministry of France.

In a tweet linking to an online article which claimed that the Macron administration will issue ID numbers exclusively for Muslim children under a new bill, Mazari said, "Macron is doing to Muslims what the Nazis did to the Jews”

“Muslim children in France will get ID numbers (other children won't) just as Jews were forced by the Nazis to wear the yellow star on their clothing for identification," she said in a now-deleted tweet.

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The UK paper which published the article on Macron’s new bill later issued a clarification, stating that the ID numbers will not just be issued for Muslim children, but for all children. Following this, Mazari said, the article cited by her has been corrected and therefore, she has deleted her previous comment.

The Pakistani Minister’s previous tweet was strongly condemned by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which issued a statement demanding its Embassy in Islamabad for rectification of Mazari's tweet.

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"Today, a member of the Pakistani Cabinet has expressed views through social media, in terms that are deeply shocking and insulting for the President of the Republic and for our country. These despicable words are blatant lies, loaded with an ideology of hatred and violence. Such slanderous comments are disgraceful at such level of responsibility. We reject them strongly," the statement said.

It further said: "We have immediately informed the Charge d'affaires of Pakistan in Paris of our condemnation, in the strongest terms. Pakistan must rectify this statement and return to the path of dialogue based on respect."

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France witnesses terror attacks

Since the last few months, France has witnessed several terror attacks by ‘Islamic extremists’ after French magazine Charlie Hebdo announced the republishing of a controversial caricature and President Macron refused to criticise it. Protests erupted in the Islamic countries over the incident with several social media users calling to boycott French products.

Macron is facing renewed criticism from the Muslim community in France and abroad over his latest plans to tackle “radical Islam”, and asking Muslim leaders to comply with a "charter of republican values".

On October 16, a secondary school teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by extremists for using Charlie Hebdo’s controversial cartoons on Prophet Mohammed in his classes. On October 30, another terrorist attack took place when a man stabbed three people to death and wounded several others in a church in Nice.

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(With inputs from agency)