‘Chinese’ Che shoes can land you in trouble!

KANNUR: In the Communist heartland of Kannur you can't put your foot lightly on the picture of Che Guevara. You certainly will run into trouble if you do it even unwittingly.

A footwear shop owner here who knew nothing about the Argentine revolutionary and guerilla leader learnt it the hard way on Tuesday when a group of DYFI activists crashed into his shop at the City Centre. The footwear shop owner had exhibited a dozen pairs of shoes carrying pictures of Che Guevara for sale. The 'Che shoes' were sent to him by a footwear manufacturer in Delhi.

The shop owner and his salesmen were aghast when the DYFI activists confronted them with questions on how the 'Che shoes' happened to reach them on Tuesday afternoon. Obviously, the shop owner who received the consignment of shoes from Delhi did not know that it was an act of defilement to sell 'Che shoes' which the Communists could never tolerate. As the incident slowly turned into a law and order issue, the police reached the scene to pacify the agitated young Communists and stop the sale.

The shop owner and the salesmen fortunately remained unhurt despite the unruly gathering of DYFI workers at the scene. As directed by the police, the shop owner quickly removed the 'Che shoes' and packed them all to send them back to the Delhi firm.

At the same time, the police too were in a state of confusion, since they were virtually in the dark about whether a case could be filed against the shop owner for trying to sell the Che shoes. When this reporter tried to ascertain under which sections of the Indian Penal Code the shop owner was being charged, the cops involved were seeking guidelines from the department higherups. There was no immediate decision on whether a case had to be filed at all.

The shop owner told Express that he had no idea that selling Che Guevara shoes would be an offence under the law. He had seen such footwear being sold in other cities, including metros, in the country. Tshirts with pictures of Che Guevara are prominently displayed for sale at a number of shops, including those in Kannur. He did not know that Che Guevara footwear would land him in deep trouble. But, for the time being at least, he escaped unhurt, thanks to 'Communist tolerance.'