In the wake of the gruesome church attack in France, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that Muslims have a “right to be angry and to kill millions of French people”.
“A teacher in France had his throat slit by an 18-year-old Chechen boy. The killer was angered by the teacher showing a caricature of Prophet Muhammad. The teacher intended to demonstrate freedom of expression. The killing is not an act that as a Muslim I would approve. But while I believe in the freedom of expression, I do not think it includes insulting other people. You cannot go up to a man and curse him simply because you believe in freedom of speech,” Mahathir tweeted, drawing massive support from many from the community on the social media platform.
Lashing out at French President Emmanuel Macron, who has declared that France will fight radical Islam, Mahathir tweeted, “Macron is not showing that he is civilised. He is very primitive in blaming the religion of Islam and Muslims for the killing of the insulting school teacher. It is not in keeping with the teachings of Islam. But irrespective of the religion professed, angry people kill. The French in the course of their history has killed millions of people. Many were Muslims.”
“Muslims have a right to be angry and to kill millions of French people for the massacres of the past,” he tweeted, triggering a world-wide debate on Islamic fundamentalism.
The former PM of Malaysia warned France, “Since you have blamed all Muslims and the Muslims’ religion for what was done by one angry person, the Muslims have a right to punish the French. The boycott cannot compensate the wrongs committed by the French all these years.”
Mahathir also took a dig at Christians, saying, “Generally, the west no longer adheres to their own religion. They are Christians in name only.”