Should we throw shoes?

Joseph Stalin had once said that 'everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach' and from what accounts I have received of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots from known and trusted sources, the hooligan armies of the likes of Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler reached deep into Delhi during the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's death.

While I cannot claim to be an eyewitness I was but eleven then and the first time I visited Delhi was in 1992 I have heard from friends that these two openly paraded in open-topped jeeps and instructed their minions in full public view, mind you to extract vengeance on innocent Sikhs because two Sikh bodyguards had killed their leader.

Many male Sikhs were so scared at that time that many of them even did something unthinkable they removed their turbans and cut their hair like the rest of us so that they would not be recognised by mobsters as Sikhs.

Even today, many of them referred to colloquially as 'cut surds' in Delhi still haven't grown their hair.

The 1984 riots expose the sham that India has become today. We say that the courts will decide and in spite of the fact that a quarter of a century has passed, people who were known by one and all to be offenders dare to appear on TV and proclaim their innocence.

Some may blame this only on the Congress, but what was the BJP doing about this case when it was in power, pray tell me?
u00a0
No blaming any one particular party for this miscarriage of justice is not correct. It is, at one level, something that all of us need to look at and address every time we call India one of the world's greatest democracies.

Now, let's take up the issue of the shoe that was thrown at home minister P Chidambaram. A one level, it was wrong for Chidambaram had nothing to do with the case but it also raises another question does one man throwing a shoe at a high official and then saying that he did it because of the 1984 riots produce more effect than a dozen commissions?

We do exaggerate when we say dozen, but there have been a total of ten Commissions of Enquiry into the 1984 riots, starting from the Marwah Commission in 1984 to the Nanavati Commission in 2004.

But, coming back to the central question, should we throw shoes?

Will it help if we hurl shoes at politicians at public gatherings which is very easy during an election year? Will they learn anything?

Doubtful. For the average politician in India has skin that is as thick as that of a healthy water buffalo.

He is bound to shrug his shoulders, throw a smile at the audience, and then move on to the next campaign.

The only way in which we can achieve anything is to have a fair and speedy trial. Throwing shoes is too good for them especially branded ones like the one thrown by Jarnail Singh.