Srinagar:
Was this Ahad Jan's misplaced anger against the system...or a tacit conspiracy of silence?
Suspended Police Head Constable Abdul Ahad Jan threw a shoe at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during the flag-hoisting ceremony on Independence Day. (
Video Special: Shoe attacks - hits and misses |
See Pics: Other shoe hurling incidents)
"Omar has joined the elite club of world leaders targeted with shoes," said Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Minister.
Farooq Abdullah has trivialised what is being construed as a larger design to humiliate the government.
On record, police say Ahad Jan is mentally unsound. His villagers say, he is anything but unsound. Ahad Jan is a hero, making a deliberate political statement.
"The security is very tight in the flag-hoisting venue where top police officers and VIPs are seated. How could a mentally-retarded reach there? He is a responsible citizen," said Bashir Ahmad, resident of Ajis village in north Kashmir.
This voice lends credence to the theory that this was not purely disgruntled-policeman act.
One, because it was not possible for a suspended policeman to go past several check points into the VIP gallery without being spotted by any of his colleagues out in full strength on Independence Day.
Two, the minimum requirement to enter was a VIP pass which the police did not find on him at the time of his arrest.
It shows Ahad Jan knew critical people at the venue who allowed him to enter.
Whether they knew his motive or not, the tragedies of Ahad Jan's life are something an ordinary Kashmiri would empathise with.
In 1992, Ahad Jan had rescued a former Director General of Police from a bomb blast. But the promise of an out-of-turn promotion was never fulfilled. On the contrary, his routine promotion was held back.
At that time, his son had become a militant. The family faced the wrath of counter-insurgents for years. His house was set on fire in the mid 90s.
His son later surrendered but peace never returned to his life. He was accused in three cases of extortion and suspended in May this year. A suspension that fuelled his anger.
Whether a political group took advantage of this anger and convinced him to throw a shoe at the CM or it his own misadventure...certainly Ahad Jan was not alone in what he did.
Also read: Farooq: Shoe attack puts Omar in 'Elite Club'