Shoe hurled during flag hoisting

Shoe was thrown by a policeman at Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir during India's Independence Day celebrations.

SRINAGAR:
A shoe was thrown by a suspended policeman at the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah as he took part in India's Independence Day celebrations at the Bakhshi Stadium in Srinagar on Sunday.

The incident is reported to have taken place as Abdullah was unfurling the Indian national flag to mark India's Independence Day, but it did not disrupt the celebrations.

Omar Abdullah commented on the incident, saying this isn’t how to protest. The chief minister also said he was happy the protestor had not thrown a stone at him.



The shoe was thrown from the third row of the VIP lounge by a suspended constable of police, who missed his target and proceeded to wave a black flag and shout "We want freedom". He was escorted away immediately.

The incident is seen to be a huge embarrassment for the government, and a massive security breach as there was said to be unprecedented security to prevent protests and militant attacks.

Authorities had extended a curfew on Sunday to celebrate Independence Day in most parts of their controlled Kashmir after six people were killed and 10 wounded on Friday and Saturday as Indian police fired at thousands of demonstrators, the latest deaths in the two month-long protests against New Delhi's rule in the region.
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