[Reader-list] Is Paris Burning?

[shuddha at sarai.net]

Meanwhile in Sarkozia, 

Our venerable Sardarzy is cozying up to the buffoon on the throne of Paris,
also known as Sarkozy. While the Sarkozy-Sardarzy gambit is rehearsed, le
soldat's de l'Hindoustan are marchant avec le Soldat's le Belle ReBublique.
Hopla.

And Paris burns, again. Citoyens, Is another French Revolution necessary? 

Salut

Shuddha


OVER 300 CARS TORCHED
Violence on France's National Day
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,636029,00.html
France's national holiday, Bastille Day, has been overshadowed by a night
of rioting in which more than 300 cars were torched on the streets of Paris
and other cities.

Rigorous attempts by the French government to clamp down on Bastille Day
rioting were not enough to prevent at least 317 cars being torched in major
French cities in the early hours of July 14.

Despite a deployment of 10,000 police officers, the number of cars set
alight represents a rise of almost seven percent from the previous year.
Youths threw home-made explosives and fireworks to set alight bins and
cars, before targeting police officers, 13 of whom were wounded in the
riots. A total of 240 arrests were made -- almost double the number
recorded in 2008.

It had been hoped that new legislation to allow harsher punishments would
deter rioters this year. Now perpetrators can face up to three years in
prison and fines of up to €45,000 for their involvement in the arson
attacks.

Violence on the eve of Bastille Day has become a tradition in France and an
outlet for disaffected young men to express their anger at French
unemployment rates and a failed integration policy for ethnic minorities.

Elsewhere in Paris, French troops were preparing for the traditional July
14 military parade down the Champs-Élysées. This year, French President
Nicolas Sarkozy will welcome Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his
guest of honor and Indian soldiers will participate alongside their French
counterparts in the parade.

The Bastille Day riots follow three nights of anarchy on the streets of
Firminy near Lyon, as youths protested amid reports of a 21-year-old
Algerian man dying in police custody on Wednesday July 8.

Mohamed Benmouna, who had been arrested on charges of extortion, was
reported to have commited suicide, but his family has filed a lawsuit to
determine the cause of death. Their pleas for a halt to the violent
protests were ignored as local youths set ablaze cars and local shops in
clashes with riot police.

More protestors took to the streets of Paris on July 13, claiming police
brutality against activist film director Joachim Gatti who lost his right
eye on July 8 -- allegedly having been shot by a police flash-ball gun.