Says activist Machchinder Nath, who is camping at Jantar Mantar for more than a year
Says activist Machchinder Nath, who is camping at Jantar Mantar for more than a year
So far we thought it was Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi who invented the 'shoeing' way of protest when he threw his shoes at the former US President George Bush. But Machchinder Nath Suryavanshi begs to defer.
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The 55-year-old activist claims he was the brain behind the latest trend of hurling shoes at politicians.
"One day every Indian will be forced to throw shoes at corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. Give me a chance and I will start the campaign by throwing a shoe each at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi," said Suryavanshi, president of Joota Maaro Aandolan. However, he is yet to make his first kill.u00a0
"My campaign will include every big leader and bureaucrat of this country," he added.
Suryavanshi is among hundreds of protesters at the Jantar Mantar, who have refused to move out despite several efforts made by the authorities. Even the government treats them like mere fixtures at the famous protest point in the Capital.
"I am waiting for the day when all big political leaders will be living under the threat of being attacked with a shoe. Enough of their corrupt practices. Today we might be ridiculing the men who lobbed shoes at Chidambaram and Advani but one day this will emerge as a national movement to wipe out corruption," he said.u00a0
A native of Latur district of Maharashtra, Suryavanshi started his campaign one-and- a-half-years ago after the local district magistrate demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 to allocate him land under a Central government scheme.
"I decided to give him my shoes as I could not afford the bribe. But even that did not change anything. Then I approached every big leader from Maharashtra like Vilas Rao Deshmukh, Shiv Raj Patil and Sharad Pawar only to realise that they were more corrupt than the local collector," he said, recalling the incidents which made him think of this innovative way of protest.u00a0
With a good mix of expletives against the political leadership off the country he said, "I am proud of the people who have dared to lob shoes at these politicians." He defended shoe-hurling as the ultimate form of disrespect one can show against the corrupt.
"Slapping, caning etc are done by parents and teachers which often get treated like a corrective action but shoe- hurling means complete disrespect towards the person," he said.
He also explained the proper style in which a shoe should be thrown at a politician to inflict maximum damage. "It should be thrown like a missile instead of a mere show of displeasure which journalist Jarnail Singh did while hurling the shoe at P Chidambram. Shoe-lobbing is not like garlanding and it must hit the head or face of the person concernened so that photo journalists can get good pictures," he said, sitting in his tent at Jantar Mantar.
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