SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
US President Donald Trump has blamed “Islam wanting to take over” France for the student protests sweeping the country, even though the teenagers on the streets are demanding better-funded schools.
“What’s happening in France is nothing less than out-of-control mass migration. This isn’t about schools, this is about Islam wanting to take over a once great Country!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
None of the demands reported so far concern religion or migration. Students want absent teachers replaced, better school buildings, longer lunch breaks and changes to the length of the school day, with the anger strongest in poorer areas. The movement began in late September at a high school in the Paris region and has since spread to cities including Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes.
On Tuesday, October 6, more than 250,000 people joined nationwide demonstrations, including around 56,000 in Paris, according to France’s Interior Ministry. Police fired tear gas and clashed with small groups of protesters in the capital after a largely peaceful march, and nearly 500 people were detained.
The crackdown on minors has drawn the sharpest criticism. Officials say more than 6,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, most of them under 18. Students, parents, teachers and rights groups including Amnesty International have condemned the use of tear gas, batons and rubber bullets against teenagers. A 15-year-old boy lost a hand on Monday in an incident involving a police grenade.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the police response had been proportionate in “almost all cases” and that 715 officers had been injured. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu rejected allegations of racism in the police response as a “lie” and condemned what he called “ultra violence” around schools. He also said the government must listen to students. Al Jazeera reported that he has suspended high school classes for the rest of the week.
The unrest has become an early flashpoint in the run-up to next year’s presidential election, amid wider anger over public spending, poverty and inequality. Rising fuel prices linked to the Iran war have added to the discontent. Some student groups have called for fresh protests on Thursday.
SOURCE : SIASAT
