France riots are affecting entire Europe, Islamization is becoming a complex problem

Riots have been happening in different cities of France for the last one week. On June 27, in the city of Nanterre, near Paris, French police shot 17-year-old Nahel for not stopping at a signal. Nahel died in this. As news of Nahel’s death spread, riots broke out in Paris. The riots that began in Paris spread to other cities in France, such as Lyon and Marseille. Rioters are attacking policemen and also carrying out incidents of arson. Rioters set fire to the largest library in Marseille. So far around 1500 people have been arrested in connection with these riots. 45000 policemen have been deployed to control the riots.

allegations of racism

The incident of Algerian-origin Nahel being killed by a French policeman is being given a racist form. Racism is a sensitive issue in France. There are 9 percent of the population of France i.e. about 5.5 million Muslims. Most of these are Arab Muslims of Algerian origin. Apart from Algeria, large numbers of Muslims have also come to France from Morocco and Tunisia. The French government and the police have always been accused of racism against Muslims. For this reason, the conflict between the Muslims and the French government is also going on. Nahel’s death is also being described as a racist incident for the same reason. But the other side is also that this matter is related to law and order and justice. The reason for Nahel’s death is the power given to the police, in which the freedom to shoot is easily available.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his party En Marche are considered to be of centrist ideology. On the other hand, the party National Rally led by Marine Le Pen is of right wing ideology. In the last few years, Macron has taken tough measures on Islamization to face the right wing in France. But between the ideology of his party on the one hand and pressure from the right wing on the other, Macron’s policies sometimes seem to lack clarity.

At present, Macron is being held responsible for the situation in France as well. Looking at the seriousness of the riots, there is also a possibility of a civil war situation arising in France.

Was the warning of civil war received two years ago?

In 2021, some retired officers of the French army expressed concern over the increasing violence in France and the rapidly spreading Islamic fundamentalism. A few days later, some soldiers active in the French Army also expressed similar concerns. Looking at these circumstances, both of them had told the possibility of a civil war in France. Some of these soldiers were stationed in Mali, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. Later these same soldiers were also deployed on the streets of France to face Islamic fundamentalists.

However, these statements made before the 2022 elections were called propaganda by the French government. But this warning cannot be called completely baseless because at the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron was under pressure due to his failure to deal with the ever-increasing terrorist threat in France.

Regarding the ongoing violence, the main police union of France indirectly said that France is currently in a state of civil war. Instead of appealing for peace with the rioters, the police union has asked to deal with them strictly. To some extent, the displeasure towards the attitude of the government is also reflected in the statements of the police. Where the riots are getting out of control on one side, the lack of coordination between the police and the government is proving beneficial for the rioters.

Other countries of Europe are also not untouched

The incident in France can be called a symbol of the problem of the whole of Europe. There is a conflict between Islamization and democratic and liberal values ​​in many countries of Europe. Liberal-minded European countries such as France, Germany, Belgium, Britain and Spain have resettled refugees from the Middle East and North Africa for many years. Most of these refugees come from Iraq, Syria, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

But for the last decade, extremist ideology is spreading rapidly among these people. After the spread of the terror of the Islamic State in the Middle East, fanaticism among Muslims has started increasing in Europe as well. The result of this can be seen in the form of increasing terrorist attacks in many European countries. Europe, which is generally considered calm and stable, has seen several terrorist attacks and violent incidents in the past few years. The reaction of this incident which took place in France is now visible outside France as well. Violent demonstrations against Nahel’s death also took place in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

Conflicts are also coming to the fore among the countries of Europe regarding refugees. In protest against Islamization, countries like Poland and Hungary have refused to accept Muslim refugees in their country, going against the policies of the European Union.

But refugees are no longer just an internal matter of Europe. Europe’s neighboring Islamic countries such as Turkey, Libya and Morocco use refugees as weapons. These countries facing economic crisis expect financial help from Europe in return for not sending refugees to Europe.

The riots currently going on in France may not lead to civil war. But Islamization is a reality that has become a complex problem for France and Europe. One of the reasons for not controlling radicalism is that along with the increase of this problem, many countries of Europe had leftist or close to it ideology government. But now this trend is changing. Italy and Greece have right wing governments. General elections are going to be held in Spain this month, in which according to opinion polls, the performance of the right-wing Popular Party is expected to be good.

Europe’s own policies are partly responsible for the ongoing instability. Because of their closeness to the US, European countries have participated in military operations through NATO and with the US in several Middle East and North African countries. Europe needs to think independently in security and strategic matters to find a solution to this problem. Europe needs to focus more on solving its own problems. If the increasing Islamization is not stopped, then the warning of French soldiers may prove to be true and civil war-like situation may arise in other countries of Europe including France.

-Niranjan Marjani