Incident - an expression of Sikh rage

The shoe-hurling incident at Home Minister P Chidambaram by a Sikh journalist as a mark of protest during a press conference at Congress head quarter in New Delhi has raised the general anger buried long against the government’s failure to punish the culprit of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot.

The accused, Jarnail Singh, a correspondent from a Hindi daily, was caught right away by the security men and taken to nearby Tughlak road police station. He was later released by the police after brief detention following Congress forgiveness to Jarnail Singh, stating the incident was disgraceful, the manner was wrong but the intention was not wrong.

Chidambaram said: “I forgive him.” His action was wrong but his heart was good…it was just his noble sentiment, he added.

The apologetic correspondent later too apologised for the manner he expressed his protest, but said the manner was undoubtedly wrong but it was the expression of rage of the entire Sikh community over the clean chit given by the CBI to the 1984 riots accused Jagdish Tytler.

Singh's brother, his lawyer Sunita Tiwari and one of his colleagues had also reached at the police station.

The whole incident occurred during a press conference over the clean chit given to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots when Jarnail Singh, sitting in the first row, asked Chidambaram how could a leader like him sit in peace when the entire community was in “pain and suffering” and feeling cheated at the hands of the government.

When asked by him about the CBI, the premier national investigating agency, that given clean chit to Tytler, Chidambaram replied that the CBI was not under the control of the Home Ministry. Neither the Home Ministry nor any other ministries had exerted any pressure on the CBI to do so, he clarified.

“The CBI has only given a report to the court. It is for the court to accept or reject or ask for conducting further investigation by the CBI. Let us wait for the court decision,” Chidambaram further added.

As Chidambaram did not allow Jarnail Singh to argue further, the journalist dissatisfied with the home minister’s replies flung a shoe at him, which the latter narrowly escaped.

This is the latest incident of shoe hurling at a political leader as a mark of protest and the first one by a journalist in the Indian history. Earlier, the Iraqi journalist had thrown his pair of shoes at Bush last year during a press conference in Baghdad. He was arrested and later jailed for three years.