'If His Name Wasn't Rakesh...': Asaduddin Owaisi's Jab In Chief Justice-Shoe Row

Rakesh Kishore - the elderly man who threw a shoe at Supreme Court Chief Justice BR Gavai Monday morning and screamed 'India won't tolerate insult of Sanatan Dharma' - walked free, improbably, after no charges were brought against him. The police even returned the shoe.

But things would have been very different if 'Asad' had thrown the shoe, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, or AIMIM, chief Asaduddin Owaisi said Wednesday afternoon.

In a short but fierce attack on Delhi Police, which reports to the Union Home Ministry in the BJP-led federal government, Owaisi questioned the apparent leniency with which Kishore was handled. "Delhi Police did not arrest the accused... because his name is Rakesh Kishore"

"If his name was not Rakesh but 'Asad', what would Delhi Police have done?" he asked.

"The Chief Justice of India is a Dalit by caste and I want to ask my Dalit brothers - a man throws a shoe at the Chief Justice in his court... what is going? The criminal said 'India won't tolerate the insult of 'Sanatan Dharma'... but how did he the courage to throw a shoe at the Chief Justice?"

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"And what was Delhi Police doing? Why did the police not invoke UAPA (i.e., the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the stringent anti-terror law)? If the accused were called 'Asad', BJP would have linked him to the neighbouring country (i.e., Pakistan)," Owaisi raged.

The AIMIM boss, prepping his party for the Bihar Assembly election next month, also referred to recent court verdicts involving mosques, and said "... but we did not pick up the shoe".

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On Tuesday Kishore declared he does not regret what he did. "I did not do it; God did. The Chief Justice mocked Sanatan Dharma. This was the Almighty's order, a reaction to an action."

The thrown shoe did not reach the Chief Justice and Kishore was quickly bundled away by security. He received a fortunate reprieve after the Chief Justice told the cops to let him go.

"I am the last person to be affected by such things..." he said.

READ | "Won't Affect Me": Man Throws Shoe At Chief Justice In Supreme Court

The shoe-throwing followed a remark by the Chief Justice on Lord Vishnu; refusing judicial intervention to reconstruct an idol, he had said, "Go and ask the deity himself to do something."

The remark sparked criticism. The Chief Justice later said, "Someone told that the comments I made have been portrayed on social media in a certain manner. I respect all religions."

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