Attack anniversary

1/11/2016 5:05:07 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Violence and hatred can be neutralised only through peaceand harmony

As France marks the first anniversary of the attack on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo the country is trying to reassert its determination to defeat terrorism and rightly so. Twelve people were killed in the January 7 2015 assault on Charlie Hebdo by jihadists who were angered by the cartoons published by the magazine. The attack had united the entire nation against terrorism and a million and a half people had thronged Paris in solidarity. The march was joined by several world leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas with the world rallying around the slogan “Je Suis Charlie”.

After the Charlie Hebdo France is still trying to exorcise the demon of terrorism and since then the wounds created by the attack had deepened as the country was the target of another dastardly attack that shook the world. On November 13 last year jihadists rampaged across Paris targeting ordinary people enjoying a night out which left 130 dead. Racial tensions and violence and suspicion had increased since then and the gulf between the minorities and others had widened. Right-wing parties have been struggling to stoke tension but unfortunately the French people halted their march with a rebuff in elections. New violence on Thursday added to the jitters when a Tunisian man was shot dead by police as he approached a Paris police station wielding a meat cleaver and a fake explosives vest on the exact anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack.

France has a huge population of Muslims and it’s impossible to maintain peace and harmony without enlisting the cooperation of this huge minority. The government and the mainstream parties must exert more efforts to prevent the spread of racism and infuse confidence among all sections of people. At the same time the government has a duty to come down heavily on terrorism. Almost all Muslims in France and everywhere in the world are against the use of their peaceful religion by terrorists and it’s the duty of all peace-loving people not to tar all Muslims with the same brush.

French President Francois Hollande deserves praise for his efforts to foster unity among his people. He made an unannounced visit to a mosque in Paris yesterday a year after jihadist attacks in the French capital and had a short conversation and a moment of friendship and fraternity over a cup of tea with the community leaders.

It’s difficult for any country to forget the attacks on its people but violence and hatred can be neutralised only through peace and harmony.

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