Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, who is the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief, faces arrest for his alleged threatening remarks against young Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi.
Following the arrest order Tuesday by a Bihar district administration, Lalu Prasad said his remarks at an election rally Monday were targeted only against "fascist forces".
The RJD chief in Kishanganj, 350 km from the Bihar capital, had said that if he had been the home minister he would have run a "roller" over Varun Gandhi for his hate speeches against Muslims.
"If I were the country's home minister, and if Varun had said this (inflammatory speeches), then I would have run a roller over his chest and thought about the consequences later."
Lalu Prasad clarified to NDTV that he had not named anyone. "What I meant to say that as far as I am concerned, I would not have spared fascist forces" and taken stern action if they divided the country on communal lines.
His political ally in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan also defended the RJD chief. "His (Lalu Prasad's) remarks were not personally against anyone. He said whoever made such speeches would have been dealt with strongly."
Superintendent of Police in Kishanganj district Ram Narayan Singh ordered the arrest of Lalu Prasad on the basis of a complaint filed against him at the police station in the morning.
A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the RJD chief on the directive of the district administration.
Union Home Minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram, however, made light of Lalu Prasad's remarks. Addressing a press conference in Delhi, the home minister said: "These statements should not be taken literally." The Congress and RJD are part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
The ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) criticised the comments.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that Lalu Prasad's remarks were nothing but a move to create trouble in a peaceful state like Bihar.
Similarly, Sudheendra Kulkarni, an advisor to BJP's prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani, said the railways minister's remarks were "nothing else but hate speech". The BJP and JD-U are partners in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Speaking in a TV discussion, Kulkarni said though Varun Gandhi had disputed the CD containing his inflammatory remarks, the BJP had dissociated itself from his reported speeches.
Varun Gandhi is in Uttar Pradesh's Etah jail for his reported inflammatory speeches targeting Muslims.
Praising Delhi journalist Jarnail Singh for his "courage and bravery" in hurling a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram during a press conference, Sikh political party Shiromani Akali Dal Tuesday announced a cash reward of Rs.200,000 for him.
"Decisions are not taken by throwing shoes but this incident has showed our pain and suffering. Bhagat Singh had also thrown a bomb in the assembly. We have thus announced a reward of Rs.200,000 for his courage and bravery," Avtar Singh Hit, national general secretary of Shiromani Akali Dal, told IANS.
Jarnail Singh hurled a shoe at Chidambaram, at a press conference here, over his response to the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The president of the Delhi unit of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Manjit Singh also supported Jarnail Singh's act.
"I fully support the journalist. What he has done represents the feelings of all the Sikhs of the country, and not only Sikhs it represents the feelings of all the law abiding citizens of the country," Manjit Singh told IANS.
"Three months ago in Punjab, Rahul Gandhi had promised to not give tickets to Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler but they were given tickets, and CBI also gave a clean chit to them. We are waiting for the court's judgement and our struggle will continue," he said.
Meanwhile, leaders of various Sikh organisation Tuesday held a sit-in at Jantar Mantar here to protest the CBI's clean chit to Tytler in a case relating to the 1984 massacre of Sikhs.
Around 4,000-5,000 people participated in the dharna. The protesters first offered 'ardas' or prayer at the Gurdwara Bangla Sahib at noon after which they proceeded towards Congress president Sonia Gandhi's house. They were, however, stopped near Jantar Mantar.
Reacting to a journalist hurling a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram to vent his anguish over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, editors of various media organisations said Tuesday the act was "unprofessional" and "uncalled for".
K.S. Sachidananda Murthy of the Editors Guild said the first advice given to journalists going out on official assignments and press conferences was to not get emotionally involved and give an unbiased report.
"We advise reporters not to get emotionally involved and disturb the decorum (of press conferences). Physical violence in public meetings is a different matter, but as journalists we have a higher responsibility. Journalists have to practise restraint over their emotions," Murthy said.
Arati Jerath, political editor of the DNA newspaper, said the act of Dainik Jagran correspondent Jarnail Singh was uncalled for.
"At the professional level, when you go to cover an event you have to keep your emotions apart. Having said that, journalists are also human beings and from his (Singh) comments you could make out, he was very emotional about the issue," Jerath told IANS.
"This person did not brandish a gun or a bomb. Therefore I don't think this incident will hamper our freedom in coverage of press conferences and rallies, since elections are around the corner and security is a major issue.
"I hope security agencies don't overreact since this was just an aberration and not a norm," she said.
Neena Gopal, resident editor of the Deccan Chronicle, agreed that it would impinge on the media's freedom to cover events.
"I don't think this incident will curb our freedom in coverage of events. This incident, I think, will instead put us in bad light. As journalists, we are looked upon with a lot of respect, and this incident may hamper that."
"I have worked in the Gulf for 30 years and coming to India was refreshing because unlike there, we are treated with so much respect. We are seen as cerebral human beings, who think logically. I just think that this incident was very disrespectful," she added.
Jarnail Singh had flung a shoe at Chidambaram during a press conference after getting into a minor argument over the exoneration of Congress leader Jagdish Tytler by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case dealing with the 1984 riots.
The way was wrong but the issue was right, journalist Jarnail Singh said Tuesday after hurling a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram as an expression of "deep anguish" over the clean chit to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Asserting that he did not intend to become a hero, the journalist from the daily Dainik Jagran said: "I just wanted to ask how justice can be done but he was not interested in answering the question. I do not think it (what I did) is the right way but the issue (1984 Sikh riots) is right."
"In the last Congress press conference Chidambaram had expressed happiness over the clean chit (given by the Central Bureau of Investigation to Tytler), so I wanted to ask how he can be so happy when a whole community is in deep anguish," Jarnail Singh told IANS over the telephone from the Tughlaq Road police station.
"I was just protesting. I regret what I did. But the dilly-dallying in giving justice to the Sikhs for the past 25 years was unacceptable," said the defence correspondent who also occasionally covers the Congress.
"It (giving a clean chit to Tytler) was utterly wrong. What are they (the Congress) doing? People talk about Gujarat but 3,000 people were killed on the roads of Delhi but they have not got justice for the past 25 years... It is a conspiracy," said Jarnail Singh, who fellow reporters describe as a gentle and mild person.
Asking his community to be calm, he said: "Nothing should be done to break the peace of the country... country comes first."
He was taken to the police station after the incident but was let off without any charges slapped against him.
There has been widespread discontent among Sikhs after the CBI cleared Tytler, who has been accused of inciting mobs in the riots that broke out after the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984.
Many of them were not even born during the 1984 riots but the hurt still ran deep with many Sikh youth introspecting on events of 25 years ago and empathising with journalist Jarnail Singh for throwing a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
"I think it was a very bold and strong step. It not only showed the anguish and frustration of an individual but voiced the sentiments of the entire Sikh community against the judgment regarding the 1984 Sikh riots," Arshdeep Singh, a college student, said.
As the anti-Sikh riots came back in the reckoning with the Delhi journalist hurling his shoe at Chidambaram over his response to the clean chit given by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his involvement in the riots, everyone agreed that the issue was right.
Balwinder Singh, a young priest, said the patience of the Sikh community had been wearing thin.
"Do not try our patience any more. We have been waiting for justice the past 25 years. Whatever has happened is just a mere reflection of the community's views. If the government does not take any action, we will see to this on our own."
Added another student, Tanvir Singh Sandhu.
"The incident has moved me very strongly. Even though the method used by the journalist was very immature, the message he wanted to convey was very right. At least now the government knows that ordinary people are not sleeping and they know how to voice their opinions."
According to Saaghar Singh Sachdev, an assistant manager with an insurance company, Jarnail Singh's action was a "a method to attract the attention of the people on the issue".
"Though he tried to ape the Iraqi journalist who the a shoe at Bush, still he has given light to the fire within us against the recent developments in the 1984 Sikh riots case."
HR professional Tajinder Singh said the Sikh community was deeply pained and anguished. "For the past 25 years we have been waiting for justice and the accused are not only moving freely but enjoying all sorts of protection."
"The act may not be justified, but people are finding ways to fetch attention towards injustice to Sikhs. The government must brought the accused to book before the common men take law in their own hands," he said.
And businessman Manjeet Singh felt such actions were necessary to make their "grievances audible to a deaf government".
More than 3,000 people, including more than 2,000 in Delhi alone, were killed in the immediate aftermath of prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in October 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards.
A shoe was thrown at Home Minister P Chidambaram during a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. The shoe was thrown by a journalist from Dainak Jagran, Jarnail Singh.
While speaking to media, an unapologetic Singh said he will not apologise for his action, though his manner of protest might have been wrong. "My manner of protest might have been wrong, but I did not intend to hurt anyone," said Jarnail Singh.