French citizens and companies in Pakistan were advised by their embassy on Thursday to temporarily leave after violent anti-France protests were seen in large parts of the country.
Anti-French sentiment has been simmering in Pakistan for months since the government of President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for the right of a satirical magazine to display cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad – considered by many Muslims to be blasphemous.
The Pakistani government on Thursday banned an extremist political party whose leader called for a march to the capital to demand the ouster of the French ambassador.
Saad Rizvi, leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), was detained hours after the call on Tuesday and brought thousands of his followers to the streets in cities across the country.
Two police officers were killed in clashes during which water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets were used.
“Due to the serious danger to French in Pakistan, French citizens and French companies are being advised to leave the country temporarily,” the embassy said in an email to French citizens on Thursday.
“The departure will be done by existing commercial airlines.”
Additional security personnel were deployed to the French embassy – inside a guarded diplomatic enclave closed to the public – and shipping containers placed as strongholds around the outer wall.
“Our police and rangers can handle the situation,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference on Thursday.
“All French citizens are safe here and there is no threat to them.”
Nevertheless, Ludo Van Vooren, a French citizen living in Islamabad, told AFP he was considering the embassy’s advice.
“We are a little shocked and reflecting on what we need to do,” he said.
“After the incidents of the last few months, we have not panicked, but we are very vigilant. Now we are trying to work out if things have changed.”
According to a French government website, about 445 French citizens and more than thirty companies were registered in Pakistan last year.
Global rallies against France
The TLP is notorious for holding days-long, violent road protests over blasphemy issues, causing the country great disruption.
Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive issue in conservative Pakistan, where laws allow the death penalty on anyone who insults Islam or Islamic figures.
Successive governments have a long history of avoiding confrontation with hardline Islamic groups because they fear that the oppression of religious parties could cause greater violence.
“We are in favor of protecting the honor of the Prophet, but the demand they are striving for could have portrayed Pakistan as a radical nation worldwide,” Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference on Wednesday. .
On Twitter, the hashtag “#FranceLeavePakistan” has been popular with more than 55,000 tweets since Thursday afternoon.
Anger erupted in the fall last year when the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
TLP followers brought the capital Islamabad to a standstill.
At the time, Prime Minister Imran Khan, a populist leader known for playing in Pakistan’s difficult religious base, blasted Charlie Hebdo for republishing the cartoons, saying ‘willful provocations’ should be ‘universally banned’.
He accused the French president of attacking the Muslim faith and encouraged Islamic countries to work together to counter the growing oppression in Europe.
Weeks later, a Pakistani man attacked the former offices of the magazine in Paris and wounded two people.