By IANS,
New Delhi : Throwing footwear on famous personalities by sullen people is becoming increasingly common as a gesture of protest. The latest to be targeted was Arvind Kejriwal, a close associate of Anna Hazare.
Some of the other famous shoe attacks:
Dec 14, 2008 – Iraqi journalist Muntazar al Zaidi, upset with the American presence in his country, threw his shoes at then US President George Bush who was visiting Iraq. Bush ducked the attacks.
Feb 2, 2009 – A 27-year-old German student hurls a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during his visit to Cambridge University in Britain.
April 7, 2009 – Hindi daily Dainik Jagran journalist Jarnail Singh, miffed at union Home Minister P.Chidambaram’s refusal to discuss Congress leader Jagdish Tytler’s alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases, hurls his shoes at the minister at the Congress headquarters. The shoes missed the minister.
April 2009 – A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker hurls his slipper at senior party leader Lal Krishna Advani in Madhya Pradesh, but missed the target.
April 2009 – A slipper was thrown at Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa at a BJP rally. The slipper landed far from the dais.
Aug 15, 2010 – Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was targeted when a suspended police constable, Abdulla Ahad Jaan, hurled a shoe at him during the Independence Day celebrations in Srinagar.
Feb 6, 2011 – Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf was attacked by a man who threw a shoe at him as he was upset over the US detention of a Pakistani national.
March 24, 2011 – Yoga guru Baba Ramdev had a close shave when a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper Mitu Singh Rathore hurled his boot at him. Rathore was angered by Ramdev’s long speech on corruption instead of a yoga demonstration at a camp in Nagpur.
April 26, 2011 – A former lawyer from Madhya Pradesh, Manoj Sharma, flung a slipper at the former Commonwealth Games (CWG) Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi inside the Patiala House court premises.
June 6, 2011 – A person posing as a journalist tried to attack Congress spokesman Janardan Dwivedi with his shoe at a press conference at the party headquarters.