Srinagar:
Abdul Ahad Jan has been enjoying his new found fame in the Valley. The suspended policeman, who threw a shoe that barely missed the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister on the Independence Day, received a hero's welcome in his hometown Bandipore on Wednesday.
People celebrated his return with shoes in their hands. "We congratulate Abdul Ahad Jan," said Younis, supporter of Jan.
A day earlier, Jan had been apologetic, almost pleading for mercy. He even told the Chief Minister he wanted to target the Director General of Police and not him. But today, flanked by hundreds of supporters, Jan was defiant and appeared proud of his act.
He said he threw the shoe to tell India to leave Kashmir. "I want Kashmir to be free," said Jan.
The suspended cop denied that a political group facilitated his entry into the VIP gallery of the highly secured Bakshi stadium in Srinagar. He said, he went on his own, "No one checked me, I reached there."
As the crowds shouted
azadi slogans and carried Jan in a procession to his home, the shoe thrower's act had again become an act of defiance. And circumstances and ideology has made Jan - the shoe thrower - a hero to many, a villain to others.