Daily Times

French middle-school teacher Samuel Paty, who taught history and geography at Collège Bois-d’Aulne, was beheaded by an irate youth of Chechen origin. The killing took place while a trial is under way in Paris over a 2015 Islamist assault on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was targeted for publishing reprehensible cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). Minutes after the gruesome murder, French police gunned down the assassin, although he was armed only with an air gun having plastic bullets.

Following an investigation by the anti-terrorism state prosecutor, Jean-François Ricard, the assassin was named as AboulakhAnzorov – an 18-year-old man, born in Moscow of Chechen origin. He came to France with refugee status as a boy and was unknown to anti-terrorism police. He lived in the Normandy town of Èvreux, about 100km (62 miles) from the murder scene and had no apparent connection with the teacher or the school.

The events leading to the beheading indicate that Samuel Paty showed some of his teenage students a caricature of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a class discussion about freedom of speech. Before showing the caricature, Paty had invited Muslim students to leave the classroom if they wished. According to one student, he had previously shown these cartoons as part of the discussion every year since the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015. A parent of one of the pupils reacted angrily to the incident, accusing Mr. Paty of showing objectionable pictures of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). Depicting photographs of the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h.) is considered blasphemy in Islam. The father of the student lodged a formal complaint and produced videos demonstrating the anger at Mr. Paty’s actions, and calling on people to go to the school to protest.

The fact is that “freedom of expression” is a great civic privilege but it should not be at the cost of infuriating any religious or ethnic group

Reportedly, Anzorov, incensed at the act of blasphemy, went to the college on 16 October 2020, and asked students to point out the teacher. The attacker followed Mr. Paty, who was heading home on foot after school, inflicted multiple wounds to the head with a knife and then beheaded the victim. Witnesses are said to have heard the attacker shout “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is Greatest”. The man then posted photos of the victim to a Twitter account.

Mr. Ricard said Mr. Paty had been the target of threats since he showed the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class about freedom of speech, in relation to the Charlie Hebdo case. The French satirical magazine was the subject of a deadly attack in 2015 after publishing the cartoons.

Eleven persons have been taken into custody, following the gruesome murder, including the father of the student, who had reported Mr. Paty’s display of the shameful caricatures. Two days after the murder, a defence council ordered the deportation of 231 foreign citizens from France.

While messages of condolence and condemnation of Samuel Paty’s murder are pouring in from Islamic countries as well Muslim religious leaders, France must take a deep look at the motivation of the youth who took law into his own hands. Muslim leaders in France also condemned the attack. “A civilization does not kill an innocent person, barbarism does,” TareqOubrou, Imam of a mosque in Bordeaux. Every human life is precious and sacred and killing one is like triggering a genocide. (Al Quran 5:32/33).

The Strasbourg-based Assembly of Chechens in Europe said in a statement: “Like all French people, our community is horrified by this incident.”

Samuel Paty’s audacious act of blasphemy is being condoned under the shroud of “freedom of speech”. Sophie Vénétitay, deputy head of the SNES-FSU teachers’ union, declared: ‘He was murdered because he was doing his job, namely teaching critical thought.’ She said Mr. Paty was a history and geography teacher who was in charge of ‘moral and civic education’. ‘In that capacity, he gave a lesson on freedom of expression with the Mohammed (p.b.u.h.) cartoons,’ she said.

Reacting to the beheading, French President Emmanuel Macron said the attack bore all the hallmarks of an “Islamist terrorist attack” and the teacher had been murdered because he “taught freedom of expression”.

Charlie Hebdo tweeted: “Intolerance just reached a new threshold and seems to stop at nothing to impose terror in our country.” French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, who met leaders from teaching unions the next day, said in a recorded statement that Mr. Paty had been killed by the “enemies of freedom” and France would “never back down when confronted by terror, intimidation”.

France has the largest number of Muslims in Europe and it should be cognizant of the sensitivities of Islam. The fact is that “freedom of expression” is a great civic privilege but it should not be at the cost of infuriating any religious or ethnic group. France is notorious for blasphemy and attempting to ridicule the person of Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). In the days of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the last Ottoman Caliph, France was planning to stage a play denigrating the Prophet of Islam, till the Turkish Sultan deterred them by threatening France of dire consequences.

Ridiculing any religion is an abhorrent act and must be avoided by all. Holocaust denial is considered a serious offence by many societies, similarly, blasphemy must be decreed to be a serious offence even by non-Muslim societies.

The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF. He is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host, who has authored six books on current affairs, including three on China