Farooq terms shoe attack on Omar as 'wonderful'

New Delhi, Aug 16: After being 'shoed', Omar Abdullah showed great statesmanship by stating that it was better to throw shoes than stones. The Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister's father Farooq Abdullah has now drawn attention to another silver lining in the dark cloud of the shoe attack saying that his son has now joined the league of world leaders like Bush and Zardari.

The Union Minister lashed out at the reporters, who sought his response on a shoe being flung at his son, saying that it was 'wonderful' that he has joined the elite club of former US President George Bush, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari among others.

"He has joined an elite club of former US President George Bush, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zadari and a few others with the reward of shoe. It is a wonderful thing," he said outside the Parliament.

A suspended police constable hurled a shoe at the Chief Minister during the Independence Day celebrations on Sunday, Aug 15 in Srinagar.

While making his speech, an unfazed CM said, “I"ve no regret that somebody threw a shoe and raised azadi slogans. I think it"s a better way of protesting if a shoe is tossed instead of a stone."

The history of the 'shoe-missile'

The era of shoe missiles began on Dec 14, 2008 when Iraqi journalist Muntazar al-Zaidi threw shoes at US president George Bush at a press conference in Baghdad.

In Feb 2009, a student hurled shoes at Chinese premier Wen Jiabao during a Cambridge university lecture.

The trend later came to India on Apr 7, 2009, when Jarnail Singh, a Sikh journalist, threw shoes at home minister P Chidambaram over an unsatisfactory answer on 1984 anti-Sikh riots. A retired school principal on Apr 10 threw shoe at Cong MP Naveen Jindal during public meeting in Kurukshetra.

Read: Now, a shoe hurled at P Chidambaram

Ahead of the big Lok Sabha polls 2009, a BJP worker threw a slipper at L K Advani, the prime ministerial candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Katni.

The latest one was reported on Aug 8, 2010 when a Pakistani protester chucked a shoe at President Asif Ali Zardari during visit to Birmingham, UK.

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