Home Minister P. Chidambaram deftly swerved to a side Tuesday to avoid a shoe hurled by a journalist upset about the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Jarnail Singh, a journalist from the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, had got into a minor argument with the home minister on the circumstances that led to Tytler being exonerated by the CBI.
"Neither the home ministry nor any other ministry put any pressure on the CBI. The CBI has only given a report. It is for the court to decide whether to accept the report or not," Chidambaram said while replying to Jarnail Singh's question.
Chidambaram requested the journalist not to argue when he persisted in asking further questions.
Suddenly a sneaker was flung in the direction of Chidambaram, missing him by a few feet.
"Please take him away gently," a seemingly unperturbed minister said after the missile was thrown at him. Congress party workers immediately took the white turbaned journalist away.
Jarnail Singh, who was later whisked away by security personnel to a police station, said: "Mera tarika galat ho sakta hain. Mera issue sahi hain." (My method may have been wrong but my issue was not).
Asked if he would apologise for the incident, he said: "Apologise for what? My issue was right."
The scene was remniscent of Iraqi reporter Muntadhar al-Zaidi who shocked the world by throwing his shoes at then US president George W. Bush in December.
Sitting in the third row at a press conference attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the reporter 'jumped up' and shouted "It is the farewell kiss, you dog."
