The shoe

Throwing shoes at someone is particularly resonant in Asia and the Middle East as a form of insulting those who are deemed to be immoral. So it was with the shoe that was hurled at Zardari. Even if we ignore the corruption, palatial buildings and chateaus, which is a massive concession, it is still the case that Zardari should, at a time of unprecedented flooding in Pakistan, be there helping the people. In the bits of the speech which I caught on PTV, he referred to the floods as 'aani-jaani', as things that come and go. Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their humble homes. They will struggle for decades. It seems Zardari either doesn't understand or care about the gravity of the floods. Of course, should the country drown, he can always retire to his chateau or central London flat.

According to reports by the independent ARY TV (which I understand is now being harassed by the Pakistani government for revealing the shoe affair), the shoe thrower was an 'old man with a white beard'. I salute the old man with the white beard. His symbolic act has expressed the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis.