Shame on the French government for having accorded red carpet treatment to shady African heads of state accused of heinous crimes against humanity and flagrant violations of human rights.

No wonder the annual celebration in Paris of the so-called Quatorze Juillet (14 July) was marred by the presence of around 70 human rights associations, all vociferously protesting against serious breaches of human rights and massacres in various former French colonies in Africa.

Post De Gaulle France has blatantly ignored the grand old man’s righteous stance in foreign policy and to all intents and purposes seems bent on projecting an image of itself in the manner in which the famous 17th-century French fable writer Jean de la Fontaine describes the

conceited in his fable La Grenouille qui veut se faire aussi grosse que le Boeuf.

Paying lip service to Bastille Day in commemoration of the 1789 French Revolution is just another way of attempting to hoodwink public and international opinion into believing that all is well with traditional French foreign policy.

For those who have ears to hear and eyes to see and who loathe deceit, these lavish and pompous military parades – so reminiscent of the practices of North Korea and other totalitarian states – make a parody of democracy, social justice and human dignity.

We are far from impressed by this newly

discovered ‘grandeur’, Monsieur le President.

Alfred Falzon

ATTARD