A lot of angst – not just existential – has been doing the rounds ever since the attack on Charlie Hebdo, a provocative-for-the-sake-of-being-provocative satirical newspaper based in Paris. An Indian living in France attempts a recap in the aftermath:
1. Je suis Charlie
So said the masses. With the same black and white DP on social media, the same shell-shocked words, sharing the same works by other cartoonists celebrating the pen(cil) and castigating the sword. They were among the millions of marchers to pay homage to the victims, to celebrate the freedom of speech in nooks and crannies of France. Many after having announced on Facebook that they would be “attending” the “event” of course, then posting selfies and videos to prove that they were there. Of course.
#MassMovement
2. Je ne suis pas Charlie
The Week did a great job of analysing the post-trauma reactions and presented seven reasons why certain people did not want to be Charlie. Here’s an eighth, the most ironic of them all. One of the cartoonists of the newspaper in question declared, “A huge symbolic weight, that doesn’t exist in our cartoons and is somewhat beyond us, has been put on our shoulders. I’m one amongst many who’s finding that difficult.”
#Anti-massMovement
3. Je suis Islamophobe
Yet another reason to utter the dreaded I word. Charlie Hebdo was accused of it, despite the fact that their covers have mocked a lot of sacred and not-so-sacred cows apart from the prophet Muhammad – from Christianity to filmmaker Roman Polanski and former French President Charles de Gaulle’s death. Also, the words “Muslim” and “terrorist” became synonymous for more people.
#MuslimsRTerrorists
4. Je suis Ahmed
To counter the bile-inducing blatant hate of the Islamophobic wave, some starting circulating “Je suis Ahmed” rhetoric. FYI, Ahmed Merabet was one of the policemen who lost his life defending the Charlie Hebdo staff.
#DamageControl
5. Je suis Dieudonné
Not too many people are saying this, apart from Dieudonné M’bala M’bala himself, a French politician and comedian of Cameroonian origin, repeatedly accused of propagating anti-semitism via his words and gestures (the “quenelle” or the inverted Nazi salute). Barely a week after the Charlie incident, in the very nation that cried itself hoarse about the freedom of speech, he was arrested. “A sham of the West’s Free Speech celebration,” this article accused.
#FreeSpeechForSome
6. Je suis Politician
When president François Hollande reached out to everyone to join the march except the far right political party Front National or FN led by Marine Le Pen, she took offence and led a rally of her own. And oh, she also demanded that the death penalty be reinstated. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was also mocked when he tried to push his way through the crowd to be seen up close and personal during a rally.
#YeahRight
7. Je suis Hypocrite
One compilation of tweets by a student showed the world that several world leaders who participated in the Paris rally are far from being advocators of free speech, considering the atrocities perpetrated in their own countries, especially on journalists. This is a must-read.
#OstrichSyndrome
8. Je suis Businessman
Almost £700 for a special edition issue of Charlie Hebdo (UK version) on eBay, with over 30 bids. See screenshots here. Amazon also laughed all the way to the bank.
#CashingIn
9. Je suis Crazy
People who actually bought copies at this astronomical sum. Or just Je Suis loaded and don’t know what to do with my dough.
#RichBitch
10. Je suis Manipulated
To all those who see a conspiracy theory in every other article written, every other news report, every other viral video shared online. More details here.
#ChronicCynic
11. Je suis __________
The blank could be filled by every act of injustice that was not protested against. Je suis Nigeria, following the massacre of as many as 2,000 people by Islamist militant group Boko Haram. The fact that the media across the globe continued to shine the spotlight on Charlie, giving Nigeria the royal ignore, The Guardian asked: What makes one attack more newsworthy than another? Closer home, je suis Peshawar, je suisAssam… And while we’re on the power of the pen, je suis Perumal Murugan, anyone?
#UncomfortablyNumb
12. Je suis Speechless
My two cents: I am not Charlie. I am not Nirbhaya. I am not any of the people attacked by Boko Haram, Ajmal Kasab or other terrorists. I am not a victim. Not for the moment, at least. I am part of the system that incited these atrocities. I still have my freedom of speech. Yet I am speechless.
#Paralysed
Moral of the story: The whole world learnt at least two words of the French language. Bonjour tristesse.
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