Days after a 47-year-old history teacher named Samuel Paty was beheaded by a radical Islamist in Paris, the French government has decided to confer the highest order of merit Legion d’Honneur posthumously.
Paty was killed on October 16 by 18-year-old radical Islamist named Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch A in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine for showcasing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed to his students at College du Bois d’Aulne. The terrorist had also uploaded the gory pictures on Twitter, before being shot dead by the French police.
On Tuesday morning, French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer announced during an interview with BFM TV that the deceased teacher would be bestowed with the honour. At the same time, a national ceremony will be held on Wednesday in Samuel Paty’s honour at Sorbonne University in Paris.
French teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded for showing cartoons of Prophet Mohammed in Paris, will be conferred the Légion d’honneur – France’s highest honour. @alysonle brings you the story pic.twitter.com/um6JhWrHeb
— WION (@WIONews) October 20, 2020
France clampdowns on mosque which incited Muslims against Samuel Paty
It was earlier reported that a local mosque (La Grande Mosquée de Pantin) was a part of a vicious online campaign to get Samuel Paty fired from his job. Although the mosque did not give away personal details of the deceased teacher, it was allegedly a part of the mobilisation campaign that eventually lead to the gruesome crime.
The mosque had urged its 1500 worshippers to share the video of the father of one 13-year-old Muslim girl, wherein he had called for action against Samuel Paty. Following the barbarian act, the mosque pulled down the video and express ‘regret’ for sharing it. However, the French government is in no mood to let them off the hook.
On Tuesday, the government announced that the mosque will be shut down for 6 months, starting from Wednesday night. Earlier, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had directed the closure of the mosque and warned, “not a minute’s respite for enemies of the Republic…”
Online campaign and a ‘call for mobilisation’
On October 7, a man Brahim Chnina had uploaded a Facebook post wherein he claimed that his daughter and other Muslim students were asked to raise their hands by their history teacher. His daughter studies in the 4th grade and is 13-year-old.
The man further claimed that the said teacher then asked the Muslims to get out of class as he was about to show something that would ‘shock everyone’. While a few Muslim students complied with the request, the man’s daughter refused to do so. He alleged that the history teacher then showcased the image of a naked man and claimed that it was that of Prophet Mohammed. An agitated Brahim Chnina called the act a ‘disgrace’ and informed that he would take up the matter with the administration. He also urged others to send emails to the school principal, demanding the termination of the said teacher.
Although he had not named Samuel Paty in the post, the online campaign to sack the 4th-grade history teacher was enough to help agitated Muslims to identify him. It is important to note that Brahim Chnina later gave away the name of the teacher in another Facebook post. However, even before he did so, personal information of Samuel Paty began doing the rounds on the internet. This is evident from the screenshots that began circulating on social media.
