Peace need of the hour

The French are a restless lot. Always agitating. But we really can’t blame them because their rallies are not without reason. For three weeks they have been protesting against the government’s questionable policies. They have been attacking policemen. They have also been burning cars and attacking shops.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Paris and other French cities on Saturday for a 21st straight weekend of anti-government “yellow vest” protests, but the marches were largely peaceful, Gulf Today reported on April 7th.

The quieter nature of the demonstrations should be a relief to President Emmanuel Macron, who this week wrapped up two months of nationwide town hall meetings as part of his “grand debate” initiative. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is due on Monday to outline the initial findings that emerged from hours of discussions with local mayors and officials, high-school students, workers, intellectuals as well as 1.9 million online contributions.

Macron, who launched the debate in a bid to calm the protests and determine which policies people want the government to focus on, is due to announce proposals based on the results later this month. Let’s hope peace returns, which is of paramount importance and matters most.

Manish Goswami, By email