Chuck de (size 8 please)

I suppose it was just a matter of time before we had our very own thrower of heeled missles with a politician as the target of choice.


Earlier today, Jarnail Singh, a journalist with the Dainik Jagran, was angered by P. Chidambaram's answers to his questions on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) giving a clean chit to former Congress minister Jagdish Tytler for his alleged role in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. So he chucked his shoe at PC who successfully took evasive action. Singh later said that perhaps his method of protest was wrong but it could not take away from what he protested against.


However, in this matter Singh is not king. That title must go to Muntazar al Zaidi, the 30 year old Iraqi journalist who lobbed both his shoes at President Bush during the latter's farewell visit to Iraq. Zaidi was defended by twenty five lawyers and was sentenced to three years imprisonment as against a maximum of fifteen years in the cooler that Iraqi law prescribes for an act of aggression against a foreign head of state on an official visit. Zaidi acquired something of an iconic status and even inspired games like this one.

But if we consider the consequences a shoe thrower may face for his action, it takes much more gumption to choose a Wen Jiabao or an Ahmedinejad as a target.

On Feb 2, 2009, a human rights activist hurled his s**e at Premier Wen as the Premier addressed a gathering at Cambridge, England. While Muntazar accompanied his hurl with shouts of 'dog', the Cambridge trainer-chucker called the Premier a dictator. Watch the video here. Skim through the comments and like me, you may be shocked by the kind of hatred that is out there.

In March, President Ahmedinejad of Iran was campaigning for presidential elections in the town of Urmia when a shoe was sent flying his way. Reportedly, the President's convoy harmed an elderly petitioner en route and riots broke out as a result. The shoe was chucked by an angry rioter.

By the way, our own Jarnail Singh, who PC famously said should be handled by the security personnel 'gently, gently', has been awarded Rs.2 lakhs by the Shiromani Akali Dal for his act of defiance. If only Jarnail had the presence of mind to throw the other shoe!