He should not have done it: Journalist’s mother

Naseeb Kaur, the mother of journalist Jarnail Singh who hurled a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram at a press conference on Tuesday, said she was “shocked” at the incident, reports HT Correspondent.

Naseeb Kaur, the mother of journalist Jarnail Singh who hurled a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram at a press conference on Tuesday, said she was “shocked” at the incident.

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But she defended her son at the same time, saying he got aggressive when his questions were not answered.

Singh’s mother Naseeb Kaur said, “When he left home this morning he touched my feet and did not look disturbed. He is generally very calm. What he did was not correct but he took the step when his questions were ignored.”

She added that during the 1984 riots Singh was young and they did not lose any immediate family member in the riots.

“He was very young in 1984. We did not lose any family member in the riots,” Kaur said.

“He is a deeply religious man and never loses his temper. He told me when his questions went unanswered he became a bit agitated and hurled the shoe,” Phulwant Singh Arora, Singh’s friend, said.

His brother Karnail Singh said nearly 30 years have passed after the 1984 riots but “no results have come”.

“The Sikh community naturally feels hurt. He was trying to put some questions, trying to get the minister listen to him.

“The court case and the decision is a different matter, but if a journalist does not have the right to question the minister... that’s when he got aggressive,” he said.

Singh told a television channel that “he was not against the Congress and no one should try to incite emotions”.

Singh has two brothers and the family lives in Lajpat Nagar.

Jarnail Singh, who was taken into custody soon after the incident, was released after being detained for an hour at the Tughlaq Road police station.