Now, a kiss from Sikh widows, orphans, victims

Step aside, Muntadar al-Zeidi.

Jarnail Singh is here.

Singh, a journalist with the world’s largest selling newspaper Dainik Jagran hurled at shoe at India’s home minister, P. Chidambaram (in picture), at a media conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.

And like with George W. Bush, the missile missed the intended target.

While Dubya ducked in time and recovered to say it was a “Size 10”, the Harvard-educated Indian victim didn’t have to do much. He lent back to avoid it as the shoe (size unknown) whizzed past him to his right.

“Please take him away,” Chidambaram said.

While Muntadar’s shoe was a gift “from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq,” Singh, a defence correspondent described by friends as a “silent” type, directed his ire at the minister of the Congress party which presided over a grisly genocide against Sikhs, following the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi, in 1984.

India’s premier investigation agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI), recently gave a clean chit to Jagadish Tytler, a politician accused of leading the mobs against Sikhs 25 years ago. Tytler is a Congress candidate for the coming general elections from the national capital, Delhi.

According to the The Times of India, the incident occurred when theturbaned journalist persisted with his line of questioning. Chidambaram told him “no arguments, you are using this forum…,” following which the journalist hurled his shoe.

An unapologetic Singh said he will not apologise for his action, though his manner of protest might have been wrong.

“My manner of protest might have been wrong, but I did not intend to hurt anyone,” he said.

Asked if he could have used some other manner to protest, he said, “for the last 25 years this has been happening. So what other method is left (to protest)”.

Also read: ‘A kiss from the widows and orphans killed in Iraq’