Pakistan President rages as Macron's France enacts anti-radicalism bill; warns ominously

Days after France overwhelmingly approved a bill that would strengthen oversight of mosques, schools and sports clubs to safeguard France from radical Islamists and ensure respect for French values, Pakistan President Arif Alvi has asked the political leadership of Paris "not to entrench the discriminatory attitudes against Muslims into laws." He also warned that such steps would lead to serious repercussions in the shape of hatred and conflict.

'Very bad repercussions in the next 10 years'

"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 on Saturday, according to The Express Tribune. Alvi said that 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 said. He warned that such a move would ultimately end up in a terrible scenario of hatred and hostility, The Express Tribune reported. "To label the entire religion in a different manner and to start taking precautions against an entire community sparks fears that will have very bad repercussions in the next 10 years, if not now," the Pakistan president said.

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The vote in the lower house was the first critical hurdle for the legislation that has been long in the making after two weeks of intense debate. The bill passed 347 to 151 with 65 abstentions, Associated Press reported. The wide-ranging bill that covers most aspects of French life has been hotly contested by some Muslims, lawmakers and others who fear the state is intruding on essential freedoms and pointing a finger at Islam, the nation's No. 2 religion. But it breezed through a chamber in which President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party has a majority.

The relations between France and Pakistan deteriorated last year after Pakistani leadership attacked the French government and President Emmanuel Macron for not condemning Prophet Muhammed's caricatures. Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron's top advisor, Emmanuel Bonne said that the relations between France and Pakistan are at a 'historic low' amid a spat of terror attacks in the former nation.

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(With agency inputs)