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Village Voice
Ashok Jha
Shoe throwing: an act to show disgust
New Delhi, India, May 07 — The journalist who threw his shoes at American President George Bush in December 2008 became an overnight celebrity in the Middle East. Admiration of him spread to other parts of the world also, and Muslims in particular appreciated his bravery. This one act showed the entire world how much American foreign policy was flawed and how much people were enraged with the United States.
In March, the same circumstance surfaced in India when the Central Bureau of Investigation cleared the controversial politician Jagdish Tytler of his alleged involving in organizing anti-Sikh riots in 1984 from all charges and Congress gave him the party ticket, so that he could yet again compete in the general election. Frustrated with the government’s attitude, a journalist hurled his shoe at P.Chidambram, the Union Home Minister of India. The action brought desirable results, and the Congress Party took remedial steps.
Soon after, shoe hurling became a trend and, so far, L.K. Advani, Manmohan Singh, Navin Jindal, and several others in India have been targeted. Political parties have not made this an issue and have uniformly condemned this type of behavior. The accused have been forgiven so far. But it has become a serious issue and security agencies will have to check this menace from spreading any further.
Our politicians are not as foolish as they are made out to be. They keep doing things their own way because they know that the public will be placated somehow. They never take public opinion very seriously. But now they should understand that the ordinary Indian is fed up with their immorality, dishonesty, “double speak”, inefficiency, corruption, and disgusting desire for power and have come to the conclusion that enough is enough. They have begun hurling boots now and, if the politicians don’t mend their ways, they will be booted out permanently.
There is an urgent need to balance out this type of action as well. The public should devise a means to celebrate efficiency, honesty, and accountability. This would be a welcome trend and encourage those political workers who are honest.
Keywords
shoe throwing George Bush P. Chidambram corruption India
In March, the same circumstance surfaced in India when the Central Bureau of Investigation cleared the controversial politician Jagdish Tytler of his alleged involving in organizing anti-Sikh riots in 1984 from all charges and Congress gave him the party ticket, so that he could yet again compete in the general election. Frustrated with the government’s attitude, a journalist hurled his shoe at P.Chidambram, the Union Home Minister of India. The action brought desirable results, and the Congress Party took remedial steps.
Soon after, shoe hurling became a trend and, so far, L.K. Advani, Manmohan Singh, Navin Jindal, and several others in India have been targeted. Political parties have not made this an issue and have uniformly condemned this type of behavior. The accused have been forgiven so far. But it has become a serious issue and security agencies will have to check this menace from spreading any further.
Our politicians are not as foolish as they are made out to be. They keep doing things their own way because they know that the public will be placated somehow. They never take public opinion very seriously. But now they should understand that the ordinary Indian is fed up with their immorality, dishonesty, “double speak”, inefficiency, corruption, and disgusting desire for power and have come to the conclusion that enough is enough. They have begun hurling boots now and, if the politicians don’t mend their ways, they will be booted out permanently.
There is an urgent need to balance out this type of action as well. The public should devise a means to celebrate efficiency, honesty, and accountability. This would be a welcome trend and encourage those political workers who are honest.
Keywordsshoe throwing George Bush P. Chidambram corruption India
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