On 14 July 1789, rebels stormed the Bastille during the peak days of the French revolution. With the beginning of the French republic and the end to the monarchy, 14 July became the French National Day, a celebration of the power of the people. In an attack characterised by both its savagery and its symbolism, madman Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, drove a truck through the streets of Nice and killed over 80 civilians and injured many more on the French national holiday. It was the third brazen attack on French territory in less than two years.

Many Mauritians will be asking themselves whether their friends and family are safe in France these days. It is a fair question, to which it would be irresponsible to answer positively. France is not safe anymore and there are many reasons for that.

François Hollande is not the right president, in these trying times, to lead France. Instead of trying to bring together a nation broken by despair and tragedy, Hollande has focused his attentions to pursuing the distinc- tive belligerent ways of the west. He would do well to sit down and think why France has suddenly turned into the number one enemy for terror groups.

Truth is, it is not only because of France’s involvement in the fight against Islamic State (IS). Many countries have stood against IS but among countries that the media views as elites, France seems to be facing the most vicious attacks. There is the technical part of it. Intelligence services in France have been outed as not being good enough. An attack with more than 80 deaths by a single assailant, while the country is already on high alert, is unacceptable.

However, there are human stories behind the terror. The stories of the victims and the stories of the terrorists. The victims of the attacks in France, for many, represented what was good about the country. Liberty, equality and fraternity.

It also represented what many of the terrorists despised. As social outcasts of the French society and often plagued by poverty, they were taught bigotry and extremism by influential hatemongers from terror groups. Brainwashed to believe that the banality of their lives is solely due to the French authorities, the terrorists needed no extra motivation to act.

Politicians have done little to negate that vicious circle. In September 2015, French politician Nadine Morano declared that France was a country of the white race. The growing popularity of right-wing nation- alist party Front National contributed to division within the country.

The terrorists do not need excuses. Humans are an inherently weak species that have been transformed into apex predators thanks to opposable thumbs, our desire to eat more than we can chew and the talent of a selected few. The order of things is catching up with us now as our society crumbles down. France would do well to recognise those weaknesses and lead the way in showing the rest of the world how to deal with terror. Hopefully not à la Tony Blair and George W. Bush.

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