A man identified as Hari Om Mishra was today held for hurling a shoe at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi during a road show in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur.
The shocking incident took place during Rahul Gandhi's Kisan Yatra. Rahul, riding in an open top vehicle, had a close shave as the shoe missed the mark. The shoe missed Rahul and hit the hand of Jitin Prasada who was accompanying Rahul during the road-show.
While the attack on Rahul Gandhi is being considered a big security lapse, this is not the first time that a prominent political leader has been at the receiving end. Time and again, people have chosen to convey their anguish and dissent through shoe-attacks across the globe.
From George Bush to Manmohan and Musharraf to Tony Blair, most of them got a shoe or two.
Let’s have a look at few such incidents:
1) Rahul Gandhi
This was not the first time for Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
In January 2012, a shoe was thrown at him during an election rally in Dehradun. In response to the attack, he said:
"If some people think that throwing a shoe will deter me and force me to run away, then they are mistaken. Rahul Gandhi will not run away."
2) Pervez Musharraf
In March 2013, a Karachi lawyer named Tajammul Lodhi threw his shoe at former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. The lawyer told media that he did so "because he hated Musharraf for trying to destroy democracy in Pakistan".
The shoe had hit Musharraf on the nose.
The same year in February, another man repeated the stunt while Musharraf was addressing a gathering at Walthamstow, London.
3) Arvind Kejriwal
The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was attacked with a shoe at the Odd-Even scheme press conference in New Delhi.
The man who hurled the shoe, later identified as Ved Prakash, claimed to be from a splinter AAP group.
4) Tony Blair
It wasn’t only shoes for the former British prime minister Tony Blair. He has had a fair share of more.
In September 2010, Blair was attacked with shoes as well as an egg at a book-signing event in Dublin, Ireland. The very next day, he was attacked again with some more shoes, more eggs, and also bottles.
5. Omar Abdullah
A police officer hurled his "brown leather shoe" at former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah during a gathering organised on Independence Day in 2010.
6. Manmohan Singh
Even the former Prime Minister had faced such an attack. A 28-year-old man had tried to fling a show at Singh during an election rally in Ahmedabad in 2009.
The shoe, however, did not reach him.
7) George Bush
In December 2008, during a press conference in Baghdad, an Iraqi journalist named Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw not one but both of his shoes at the former US president
Bush, however, successfully dodged both the shoes.
After the attack on Bush, shoe incidents became quite a trend and a number of leaders bore the brunt of it.
8) P Chidambaram
In 2009, P Chidambaram faced shoe attack at a press meet by a journalist Jarnail Singh while talking about 1984 Sikh riots case.
