Journalist throws shoe at Indian official

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• APRIL 7, 2009, 8:01 A.M. ET

Journalist Throws Shoe at Indian Official




Associated Press

NEW DELHI -- An angry journalist threw a shoe at India's top security official after a confrontational exchange during a press conference over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that left thousands dead.


The shoe missed Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who continued taking questions Tuesday as officials escorted the journalist away.


He was later taken into police custody, but it was not immediately clear whether he would face charges, said police spokesman Rajan Bhagat.


Local television channels identified the journalist as Jarnail Singh, a veteran reporter with one of India's largest newspapers, the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran.



A Sikh journalist throws his shoe at India's Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram during a news conference in New Delhi in this video frame grab from Ani TV
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/hard-talk/24531-journalist-throws-shoe-at-indian-official.html



Before throwing the shoe, Mr. Singh asked Mr. Chidambaram several questions about the Central Bureau of Investigation's findings last week that cleared a senior Congress party leader, Jagdish Tytler, from any involvement in the ****** riots that left 3,000 dead.


Mr. Chidambaram said the CBI was an independent body and the government played no role in the decision, and called for the public to be patient.


Mr. Singh, dressed in an olive-green shirt and a white turban, then threw his blue and white sneaker at Mr. Chidambaram, narrowly missing his face.


Moments later, Mr. Chidambaram repeatedly asked the reporters in the room to "settle down," and said, "the emotional outburst of one man should not hijack a press conference." Soon after, Mr. Singh told TV news reporters that he regretted throwing the shoe but he felt Mr. Chidambaram was dodging the question.


"I just wanted to ask him how justice will be done, but he was not interested in answering the questions," he told CNN-IBN during a telephone interview from police custody.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24531


"I don't think it was the right way, what I have done, but the issue is right." Mr. Singh didn't say whether he was inspired by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who last month was sentenced to three years in prison for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush in Baghdad.


The 1984 riots, which remain a very controversial issue in India, left more than 3,000 dead, most of whom were Sikhs. The carnage erupted across India after former prime minister Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards shot her to death. Many blame Congress party officials for turning a blind eye or even supporting the rioters in the violence that ensued after their leader was slain.


On Tuesday, hundreds of Sikhs held protests over the CBI's findings in front of the home of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi.


Jagdish Tytler, the center of the controversy, was a lawmaker at the time and remains a divisive figure in Indian politics. He is currently campaigning for re-election to Parliament in elections that begin later this month.


Copyright © 2009 Associated Press

 
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April 7 (Bloomberg) -- An Indian journalist threw a shoe at Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram at a news conference angered by the minister’s response to a question related to a party leader, who is alleged to have instigated anti-Sikh riots.

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I am not a proponent of throwing shoes. But I have to say this: The Home Minister is not even an elected official in my own country and he taxes my patience anyway. He had the same "looking down his nose" attitude right after the attacks in Mumbai in November. Everything appears theoretical and cut and dry without any sense that he GRASPS the enormity of human suffering in this or any situation. So I hope the journalist gets a better pair of shoes.

Ji

I posted this remark on the Newsmaker thread -- so forgive me if this seems like spam.

I am not a proponent of throwing shoes. But I have to say this: The Home Minister is not even an elected official in my own country and he taxes my patience anyway. He had the same "looking down his nose" attitude right after the attacks in Mumbai in November. Everything appears theoretical and cut and dry without any sense that he GRASPS the enormity of any situation having to do with urgent suffering. So I hope the journalist gets a better pair of shoes.

I salute this brave man.He has done what all the other sikhs have failed to do.Today almost whole the media was covering this issue.Congress leaders were seems to be frustratred.Infact in evening there was a news that congressing is reconsidering ticket to Tytler and sajjan kumar.The younger generation will know what happened in 1984 to the sikhs.Thanks to this man

i wish it had hit him in the face.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24531

i guess the singh must have watched the bush incident.

This is how it feels to be asked to wait, to be patient, to be logical. When you are asked to wait for years, and when you are yourself the evidence of injustice THAT MAY NOT BE HEARD.

A Raisin in the Sun - Langston Hughes



Langston Hughes is an important African American poet who wrote the story of injustice felt and lived by people of color in the US. The same words may yet apply to 1984 victims. The journalist who threw his shoe -- just exploded.

source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/167965/S...from-SGPC.html



Sikhs seek justice, Jairnal Singh gets job offer from SGPC

Rajeev Ranjan Roy - The Daily Pioneer -Chandigarh - April 8, 2009

The Sikh community’s pent up anger over the denial of justice in 1984 riots came out again in the open on Tuesday, following Jarnail Singh’s throwing shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram. Sikh Gurudwara Prabandh Committee (SGPC), the community's highest decision making body, went on to offer a respectable job to Singh.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the act should serve as “an eye opener for the Centre, especially for the Congress, about the depth and magnitude of pain and angst over clean chits given to those guilty of the unspeakable horror of 1984 massacre of thousands of innocent Sikhs.”

The common refrain from the masses from across Punjab was--“His act might have upset others, but one should understand the trauma Sikh community has suffered for 25 years.” They even warned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi against batting for two Lok Sabha seats (Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar) at the cost of 23 seats in north India.

“We would extend all kind of help including financial, security, job and protection to Jarnail and his family,” said SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, adding there was outrage among Sikhs for giving clean chit to Jagdish Tytler.

“Jarnail took the extreme step under the sheer influence of his emotions, and was not intended to harm P. Chidambaram. His act showed resentment of Sikh community for denying justice even after 25 years of pogrom,” Makkar told The Pioneer.

Said Jathedar Akal Takht Gyani Gurbachan Singh: “I feel Jarnail was not wrong, since what he did was the out come of injured sentiments. Here I would clear that Sikh community would always stand with him.”

There were dissenting voices too, but what was significantly conveyed was the kind of anger the Sikhs were writhing with after the CBI exonerated Tytler for his alleged role in 1984 Sikh carnage and the Congress deciding to field him along with another accused Sajjan Kumar from their respective parliamentary seats in Delhi for re-election.

Punjab has 13 Lok Sabha seats out of which 9 are held currently by the SAD-BJP alliance. The neighboring Haryana has 10 seats out of which nine are with the Congress. Since Sikhs are in a sizeable in number in Haryana, and of course with dominance in Punjab, the political implications of Sikh outrage cannot be ruled out.

Said the chief of Damdami Taksal Baba Harnam Singh Dhuma: “The Sikhs will give a befitting reply to the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha poll. Such an extreme step by a learned person only shows the gravity of the issue.”

Disapproving Jarnail Singh’s act, a veteran Sikh scholar and writer Principal Mohan Sigh Prem based in Patiala said: “The Congress president Sonia Gandhi has to decide now if she goes ahead with giving tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar and end up losing over 22 seats from north India where Sikhs are a deciding factor.”

Agreed Dr Gurbachan Singh Rahi: “One cannot approve Jarnail’s way of protest but the Congress should re-think for allotting party tickets to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.”

“How long one can wait for justice? It is but natural to get frustrated by the system. He must have got hurt over and over again. Otherwise, what was the need for an intellectual to indulge in this kind of act,” said MS Bharaj, a senior producer with Doordarshan, Jalandhar.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24531
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24531

Said industrialist Amanbir Singh Marvaha: “The political class has usurped everything and still they want that they should be treated respectfully by those who are victims of their long apathy. Is it possible?”

Added Sarbjit Singh, owner of CCIT, a Ludhiana based computer institute: “Politicians should learn a lesson from the incident and gauge the anger prevailing among common people about them and their misdeeds.”

Gurcharan Singh Grewal, president, Sikh Students Federation, said one might not agree with Jarnail Singh’s way of protest, but has anybody ever thought of the pang the dependents of 1984 Sikh riot victims was passing through.

“Over 25 years gone but the assassins of 1984 riots are not given punishment. Injustice meted out to Sikh community has provoked Jarnail Singh to take such an extreme step. It would be better if the Congress withdraws Tytler from the fray,” said Grewal.

-- With inputs from Gagandeep Ahuja in Patiala, Jagmohan Singh in Amritsar, Arshdeep Singh in Ludhiana, Gauri Bawa in Jalandhar

How could he MISS ?? So near !!

Didn't he have another one?!!?
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=24531