Liberté, égalité, fraternité stand for Liberty, equality and fraternity and is the national motto of France. Maximillian Robespierre coined this phrase, which became a guiding principle for the French Revolution expressing its ideas and aspirations. It finds its origin in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, which defined liberty in Article 4 as follows: Liberty consists of being able to do anything that does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of every man or woman has no bounds other than those that guarantee other members of society the enjoyment of these same rights. Equality, on the other hand, was defined by the Declaration in terms of judicial equality and merit-based entry to government (art. 6): [The law] must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in its eyes, shall be equally eligible to all high offices, public positions and employments, according to their ability, and without other distinction than that of their virtues and talents.
The question arises, whether the motto is still valid in modern France? Judging from the plight of Muslims, who are France’s second-largest religious group, the validity falls short. Islam is the second most widely professed religion in France (behind only Christianity) primarily due to migration from Maghrebi, West African, and Middle Eastern countries. French polling company IFOP estimated in 2016 that French Muslims number between 3 and 4 million, and claimed that Muslims make up 5.6% of French people.
In November 2015 in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, French authorities for the first time closed three mosques with extremist activities and radicalization being given as the reason. The mosques were located in Lagny-sur-Marne, Lyon and Gennevilliers. Decades of marginalization of the Muslims in France and accepting cartoons and caricatures repugnant to the teachings of Islam and denigrating the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in the garb of “freedom of speech” have caused French Muslims to feel that the xenophobia and discrimination they face has become mainstream.
If France is to return to its original identity of tolerance, the marginalisation of its Muslim community must stop. Secularism, which was a pillar of society, must return and replace religious discrimination
Ironically, “laicite” (secularism) is a term with which French policymakers are obsessed, mandates strict delineation between the state and the private sphere of personal beliefs. This wall between the two was originally meant to protect citizens from the intrusion of the state and the state from religious influence, which frequently raised its head throughout the country’s history. This arrangement has, however, come increasingly unstuck as the state seems to be involving itself more and more in the lives of its Muslim citizens.
For decades now, French presidents have interfered in Islamic dress codes, dietary needs, and the plethora of religious institutions and places of worship modern France is home to. French leaders have focused on the country’s Muslims as an electoral scapegoat in lieu of making the bold structural changes that are so desperately needed.
A staggering third of French government spending is on welfare — a reality that the state can ill-afford. Successive governments have shied away from making the necessary spending reforms, but President Emmanuel Macron has made this the center of his presidency. Having outmaneuvered France’s existing political parties in 2017, his En Marche movement was initially successful but slowly morphed into the degeneration of unrest leading to protest rallies and strikes.
In October 2020, President Emmanuel Macron announced a crackdown on “Islamist separatism” in Muslim communities in France, saying a bill with this objective would be sent to parliament in “early 2021.” Among the measures, would be a ban on foreign imams, restrictions on homeschooling, and the creation of an “Institute of Islamology” to tackle “Islamic Fundamentalism”. His government introduced a bill that would punish with jail terms and fines any doctor who provides virginity certificates for traditional, Muslim religious marriages. On 16 February 2021, the law passed the lower house 347—151 with 65 abstentions.
With his approval rating waning, the president has also been faced with a succession of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists, the most recent of which was the October 2020 beheading of teacher Samuel Paty and the murder of three people at Notre-Dame Basilica in Nice. According to Macron, France has been targeted by terrorists because of its “freedom of expression, right to believe, or not, and its way of life.”
Unfortunately, in an egalitarian French society, whose forefathers believed in equality, the proposed ban on Muslim women wearing hijab in public or concerns about Muslim women dress code and men sporting beards has caused tremors in France. In a report titled “Discrimination Against Muslims: The State Must React,” Amnesty International denounced the “hostile climate and discriminatory discourse” toward Muslims in France. In 2019, then-Interior Minister Christophe Castaner listed very basic religious freedoms, such as praying, fasting and growing a beard, as “signs of radicalization.” As the Amnesty report pointed out, the increasingly focused nature of French policymakers does not distinguish normal forms of religious practice from extremism, leaving many Muslims at risk of being penalized for their religious beliefs.
If the country is to return to its original identity of tolerance, the marginalization of France’s Muslim community must stop. Secularism, which was a pillar of the French community must return and replace religious discrimination. Saner elements among the Islamic world too must come forward to pave the way for the reduction of marginalization and enhancing inclusion of the Muslims.
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