![\"France-debates-bill-against-disease-of-Islamic-radicalism-rapidnews-rapid-news\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/France-debates-bill-against-disease-of-Islamic-radicalism-rapidnews-rapid-news.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe French parliament on Monday began debating a controversial new bill against what the interior minister described as the \u201cdisease\u201d of Islamic radicalism eating away at the country\u2019s unity.<\/p>\n
President Emmanuel Macron has pushed the legislation \u2014 which would tighten rules on issues ranging from religious-based education to polygamy \u2014 after a spate of attacks blamed on extremists late last year.<\/p>\n
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The lower house National Assembly kicked off two weeks of what are expected to be tense debates on the legislation, for while the left says it stigmatises Muslims, the right argues it fails to tackle the core issue.<\/p>\n
The legislation is dubbed the anti-separatism bill as ministers fear radical Muslims are creating communities separate from France\u2019s staunchly secular identity. It has been bitterly criticised in Muslim countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country is sick from separatism, above all Islamism which is damaging our national unity,\u201d Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to know what to call the disease, you have to find the medicine,\u201d he added. \u201cThis text does not fight religions but the Islamist takeover bid,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The law was in the pipeline before the October killing of Samuel Paty, a junior high school teacher who was beheaded in the street. But the killing, committed by an 18-year old Chechen after a virulent social media campaign against the teacher, gave fresh impetus to the bill.<\/p>\n
It prompted the inclusion of the specific crimes of online hate speech and divulging personal information on the internet.<\/p>\n
Under the legislation, doctors also would be fined or jailed if they performed a virginity test on girls.<\/p>\n
Polygamy is already outlawed in France but the new law would also ban authorities from issuing residency papers to polygamous applicants.<\/p>\n
Paty\u2019s death came amid a spate of attacks in France this year, including a knife assault outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and deadly stabbings at a church in Nice.<\/p>\n
Macron has become a figure of hate in some Muslim countries and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the draft law an \u201copen provocation\u201d.<\/p>\n
In France, far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon opposes a text that he says \u201cstigmatises Muslims\u201d.<\/p>\n
On the right, the parliamentary group leader of The Republicans Damien Abad said the text ignores issues such as radicalisation in prison and migration.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile French far-right leader Marine Le Pen \u2014 who analysts believe will be Macron\u2019s main rival in 2022 elections \u2014 last week outlined her own plan, which include a ban on Muslim headscarves in all public places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The French parliament on Monday began debating a controversial new bill against what the interior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n