"In the 35 years that I've been selling newspapers, but it's the first time I’ve seen this seen this," Michel told me.
He usually opened his stall in central Paris at 7.30am, but on Wednesday decided to start work at 7. "A crowd had already gathered on the pavement," he said. "I took the boxes of Charlie Hebdo outside and sold every copy right there in a couple of minutes."
This was the sixth newsstand I’d visited since 7am, when I, like so many other Parisians, ventured out to buy the first issue of Charlie Hebdo published since the magazine had been attacked last Wednesday, leaving 12 dead and setting off a chain of terror that ended with 17 dead. It was still pitch dark outside when got out to my local newsstand near Bastille. But all of the 100 copies of Charlie Hebdo had been sold within a minute of the stall’s opening. I went to the Gare de Lyon station, a major hub in the heart of Paris. No Charlie Hebdo there either. All copies had been sold by 5.30am.
The print-run for this issue was supposed to be three million, a far cry from the usual 60,000 issues printed every week. But in the early hours of Wednesday, Charlie Hebdo announced it would print a total of five million issues.
Thankfully, Marc, a friend working at a nearby hospital, had woken up for his shift at 5 am and had a copy, which he let me borrow. Reading the latest Charlie Hebdo in a café with an espresso and a croissant should have felt very ordinary. Of course, this week it didn't.
The survivors' issue
Many liberal Indians, whose only knowledge of Charlie Hebdo is a couple of cartoons that circulated online last week , seem to have decided that the satirical weekly’s irreverence is racist, Islamophobic and unnecessarily provocative. As it turns out, the "survivors' issue", as the issue number 1178 has been called by the magazine staff, is anything but inflamatory. True, a caricature of the prophet Mohammed is on the front page but he is holding a "Je suis Charlie" sign and is crying. The caption above reads "Everything is forgiven."
"Mohammed is well loved and revered, but he is also my character," Luz, the cartoonist who drew the cover, said at a press conference.
In the café where I was sitting, many people, including the French Muslim waiter, did not find the cover upsetting but rather touching, although the TV screen on the wall was showing mixed responses from people outside a mosque.
The content of this issue is a clever balance between heartfelt tributes to the victims of the attack, humourous cartoons and incisive comment about the events of the past week. In his editorial, Gérard Briard, the chief editor, wrote:
Inside the 16-page issue, the cartoons poke fun at everyone: Islamists, the Pope, the young French citizens who leave the country in order to become jihadis in Syria and Iraq, Angela Merkel and her economic policy, Netanyahu and his anti-human rights politics, French leaders who might use the attacks to curtain freedoms in the name of an anti-terrorism war. One article pointed out the hypocrisy of Prime Minister Manuel Valls who recently talked about failures in intelligence while being largely responsible for the lack of actual field work and coordination among intelligence agencies. Another article derided the "conspiracy theory scavengers".
Alive and kicking
After their gruesome attack, the Kouachi brothers shouted, "We killed Charlie Hebdo." Today's issue proves that Charlie is alive and kicking. This is the biggest victory. But let us not be angelic or unnecessarily optimistic. France is facing immense social and political challenges. Ten thousand soldiers have been deployed all over France and many fear the passing of repressive laws modelled on the Patriot Act in the US. More than 50 mosques have been vandalised in the past week. An unprecedented number of French Jews are said to get ready to move to Israel, partly because of anti-semiticism.
I wonder how many of those who got up at the crack of dawn to buy this week's issue of Charlie Hebdo will buy it next week. This week's issue of Charlie Hebdo is already a collectors' item. Copies are being sold for up to 1,000 euros (Rs 73,000) on eBay. The same amount will buy you a subscription for more than 10 years. Emotion is natural, but cashing on it is obscene. The four million of us who marched last weekend in support of freedom, secularism and equality ought to not to let our outrage and grief dull our capacity for critical thinking. More than ever, we need to question the society that let 17 people be murdered for their opinions or religion. This is what Charlie Hebdo does this week. This is what we, as a people, have to do every day.
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He usually opened his stall in central Paris at 7.30am, but on Wednesday decided to start work at 7. "A crowd had already gathered on the pavement," he said. "I took the boxes of Charlie Hebdo outside and sold every copy right there in a couple of minutes."
This was the sixth newsstand I’d visited since 7am, when I, like so many other Parisians, ventured out to buy the first issue of Charlie Hebdo published since the magazine had been attacked last Wednesday, leaving 12 dead and setting off a chain of terror that ended with 17 dead. It was still pitch dark outside when got out to my local newsstand near Bastille. But all of the 100 copies of Charlie Hebdo had been sold within a minute of the stall’s opening. I went to the Gare de Lyon station, a major hub in the heart of Paris. No Charlie Hebdo there either. All copies had been sold by 5.30am.
The print-run for this issue was supposed to be three million, a far cry from the usual 60,000 issues printed every week. But in the early hours of Wednesday, Charlie Hebdo announced it would print a total of five million issues.
Thankfully, Marc, a friend working at a nearby hospital, had woken up for his shift at 5 am and had a copy, which he let me borrow. Reading the latest Charlie Hebdo in a café with an espresso and a croissant should have felt very ordinary. Of course, this week it didn't.
The survivors' issue
Many liberal Indians, whose only knowledge of Charlie Hebdo is a couple of cartoons that circulated online last week , seem to have decided that the satirical weekly’s irreverence is racist, Islamophobic and unnecessarily provocative. As it turns out, the "survivors' issue", as the issue number 1178 has been called by the magazine staff, is anything but inflamatory. True, a caricature of the prophet Mohammed is on the front page but he is holding a "Je suis Charlie" sign and is crying. The caption above reads "Everything is forgiven."
"Mohammed is well loved and revered, but he is also my character," Luz, the cartoonist who drew the cover, said at a press conference.
In the café where I was sitting, many people, including the French Muslim waiter, did not find the cover upsetting but rather touching, although the TV screen on the wall was showing mixed responses from people outside a mosque.
The content of this issue is a clever balance between heartfelt tributes to the victims of the attack, humourous cartoons and incisive comment about the events of the past week. In his editorial, Gérard Briard, the chief editor, wrote:
"In the past week, Charlie has acquired many new friends. Anonymous people, worldwide celebrities, humble people, rich people, non-believers and religious dignitaries, sincere people and Jesuits, some friends for life and some who are only with us for a short while.
"Today, we embrace all these friends, we have neither the heart nor the time to sort them out. But we are not fooled. We thank with all our heart the millions who, whether their are simple citizens or institutional representatives, are really standing by our side, who sincerely and deeply identify as Charlie. They will know who they are. And we say ‘fuck you’ to the rest, who, in any case, don't give a shit."
Inside the 16-page issue, the cartoons poke fun at everyone: Islamists, the Pope, the young French citizens who leave the country in order to become jihadis in Syria and Iraq, Angela Merkel and her economic policy, Netanyahu and his anti-human rights politics, French leaders who might use the attacks to curtain freedoms in the name of an anti-terrorism war. One article pointed out the hypocrisy of Prime Minister Manuel Valls who recently talked about failures in intelligence while being largely responsible for the lack of actual field work and coordination among intelligence agencies. Another article derided the "conspiracy theory scavengers".
Alive and kicking
After their gruesome attack, the Kouachi brothers shouted, "We killed Charlie Hebdo." Today's issue proves that Charlie is alive and kicking. This is the biggest victory. But let us not be angelic or unnecessarily optimistic. France is facing immense social and political challenges. Ten thousand soldiers have been deployed all over France and many fear the passing of repressive laws modelled on the Patriot Act in the US. More than 50 mosques have been vandalised in the past week. An unprecedented number of French Jews are said to get ready to move to Israel, partly because of anti-semiticism.
I wonder how many of those who got up at the crack of dawn to buy this week's issue of Charlie Hebdo will buy it next week. This week's issue of Charlie Hebdo is already a collectors' item. Copies are being sold for up to 1,000 euros (Rs 73,000) on eBay. The same amount will buy you a subscription for more than 10 years. Emotion is natural, but cashing on it is obscene. The four million of us who marched last weekend in support of freedom, secularism and equality ought to not to let our outrage and grief dull our capacity for critical thinking. More than ever, we need to question the society that let 17 people be murdered for their opinions or religion. This is what Charlie Hebdo does this week. This is what we, as a people, have to do every day.