Paris is on fire and it’s not just in reality but metaphorically as well. A North –African 17 tear old delivery boy called Nahel was killed at a traffic stop when police stopped him and then he at some point tried to start his car. A policeman fired on him from close range to apparently stop him and he was killed. The police initially made up stories that he was a threat to their life etc so they fired but video records showed otherwise.

Finally, the authorities owned up to the killing and have now pressed charges against the policeman. Meanwhile, Paris is up in flames as protests raged across the poor districts where most migrants of North Africa live. Nahel’s mother Mounia led marches in her area.

Unlike previous times, the authorities can’t blame that the boy was a jihadi or something and draw attention away from the police action. He was a simple lawbreaker and nothing political about it.

The land most “shushils” think is the paradise of human rights, ideas, and freedom has been acting remarkably unlike one, going by media reports.

North African and Muslim

What Western media has carefully managed to avoid is the fact that the killed boy is of North African descent and all North Africans are from French colonies and all are Muslims. The objective is obvious. Both France and the West want to avoid a global backlash and turn it into a cause of Muslims particularly during the hajj. The French are the most repressive of all colonial powers and have a systemic oppression policy against its ex-colonial subjects living in France, mostly Paris.

The anger against the French government and state is therefore socially led by the most denied group. To this has been added resentment against the near license given to the police to act as it wishes to preserve law and order. President Macron vigorously defended the police after the killing, saying it’s not their fault but that of an individual policeman. That the individual policeman is a product of the system may have escaped the President’s mind.

The violent protests

For the first couple of nights, it was the fireworks and flames. The police were outnumbered and couldn’t control the situation. Their number went from 9,000 to 40,000 immediately. But the media reports that it isn’t working. Street reports say that the police are acting more like cover for the fire crews . Once a fire is doused, they move on and the crowd is back in charge.

It's easy to say that the disorder can't just go on, but so far that's exactly what has happened. It won’t go on for long but the problem remains alive till the next outburst.

What France needs is a solution and it doesn’t have exactly that ingredient.