Shoe flung at Omar at I-Day function

SRINAGAR - A police officer hurled a shoe at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during the Independence Day function at a heavily-guarded stadium here Sunday.

Abdullah was just about to take the salute after unfurling the tricolour when the officer, whose name was not immediately known, flung a brown leather shoe at him, which missed hitting the chief minister.

The shoe thrower was rounded up by Abdullah’s security men and taken out of the Bakhshi Stadium, the venue for the Independence Day celebrations.

Abdullah played down the incident and in a lighter tone said he would be happy if people throw shoes instead of stones — a reference to the daily stone-pelting incidents in the Valley by pro-freedom protesters who have been bringing the state to the boil.

The chief minister has been facing sharp criticism for his handling of the latest uprising in the Kashmir Valley during which over 55 people have been killed, mostly in firing by security forces, since June 11.

With Sunday’s shoe throwing incident, Abdullah joins the league of Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, former US president George W. Bush and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao who have had shoes flung at them.