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Shoes have now replaced eggs, rotten tomatoes and stones used to be the missile of choice for pelting at politicians -- shoes are now the ultimate weapon of humiliation.
'Shoe' missile first fell on former US President George Bush. Iraqi television journalist Muntadhar al-Zaididias threw a shoe at former US president George Bush in Iraq.
The journalist, in Arabic language, called Bush a dog and said this was a farewell kiss for him. He further said that this was from orphans, widows and all those who were killed in Iraq.
Then in February, a protester hurled a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao while he was speaking in Cambridge University and called him a dictator.
Now latest to add this list none other than Indian home minister P Chidambaram.
A shoe was hurled at him at a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, April 7, while he was replying to question by a Sikh journalist on the CBI's clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Now.. some politicians around the world must surely be thinking: am I next?
Its shame on you CBI
Symbolism attached to the 'shoeing' has made it a sharp tool against protesters. The soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Islam, which many in the West would have first noticed when Iraqis pounded the toppled statue of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Throwing shoes is also a sign of disrespect in Indian culture.
The pen may be mightier than the sword but shoes are more powerful especially if thrown at a politician during a press conference. Yes, shoes has become an icon of protests among the world....a bad news for politicians.
Now the next question, what will happen next if the practice continues to spread? Will all shoes have to be removed and left outside before press conferences? Only the time will answer my question.
Tags: shoes, protests, rajesh krishna, shoe thrower, jarnail singh, rajesh krishna, wen jiabo, george bush, iraq.
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