NEWS HEADLINES

JOURNALIST HURLS SHOE AT P CHIDAMBARAM (APR 7, 2006, EXPRESS INDIA)

A journalist threw a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram at a press conference on Tuesday, protesting against the minister’s reply on his question on CBI’s clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 Sikh riots case. The shoe did not hit the minister and the journalist, a senior reporter with Dainik Jagran, was taken into custody. The press conference was being held at the Congress headquarters where Chidambaram was presenting his party’s report card on terrorism. The journalist asked the minister whether letting Tytler off the hook ahead of the elections was not politically motivated.

To which Chidambaram replied that CBI had only presented a report to the court and it was up to the court to either accept or reject it. The journalist wanted to ask another question but Chidambaram said he did not want to get into an argument and refused to take further questions. The journalist then threw his shoe at the minister, saying ‘I protest’.

It is the first of its kind incident in India but throwing shoes at political leaders has become a high-profile form of protest. The trend was started by an Iraqi journalist who had thrown shoes at former US President George Bush at a press conference in Baghdad last year. Thereafter, the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was meted a similar treatment while delivering a speech at Cambridge University. The Israeli ambassador to Sweden was also hit by a shoe when he was addressing an audience in Stockholm University.

http://www.expressindia.com/story_print.php?storyId=444151

CONGRESS GIVES IN, DROPS TYTLER AND SAJJAN (APR 9, 2006, IBN)

The Congress on Thursday announced Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, accused of involvement in the 1984 Sikh riots, are withdrawing from Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. The two leaders have opted out of elections keeping the party’s interests in mind, announced Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi. Dwivedi said the party had decided that "they will not be Lok Sabha candidates" from Delhi in the general elections starting on April 16. Dwivedi announced the Congress will shortly announce replacements for Kumar and Tytler, party candidates in Northwest Delhi and South Delhi.

"Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar have expressed their sentiments that they do not wish to embarrass the party by contesting Lok Sabha elections when some political parties and individuals have tried to vitiate the atmosphere. They have opted out of Lok Sabha elections. The party has accepted their feelings and decided that they will not be Lok Sabha candidates of the Indian National Congress," said Dwivedi. The announcement came after days of Sikh protests in New Delhi and Punjab against the two politicians’ candidature. The protests gained momentum after a Sikh journalist threw a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday to protest against the CBI giving a clean chit to Tytler.

Tytler had already told a press conference earlier in the day he was withdrawing from elections. "I don’t think I should fight (the election)," said Tytler adding that he did not want to cause "embarrassment" to the party. Tytler and Kumar have denied involvement in the killings of Sikhs after then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984.