Since the time Asif Ali Zardari became president, hearing words of caution from people when sharing jokes about him — especially via SMS — has been common.

“Don’t mention HIS name in a text message, THEY can track it.” In a situation like this, my mind automatically thinks “Oh my God, now he’s like ‘HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED.’” Is his name a hex that when uttered the Death Eaters show up to persecute the person who has spoken ill of him? It’s ruining Harry Potter for me…

A few nights ago, I heard the same words of caution when jokes regarding the shoe-throwing incident in London flowed in by the dozen (see Footnotes for other famous shoe moments).

GEO and ARY were taken off air for mentioning the event and threats were delivered to other media houses. I wonder if the PTA is also planning to go on a rampage (or hasn’t done so already) to take down whatever videos or news articles exist regarding the incident as the government wants to pretend that the incident simply did not take place (*FLASH* Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four).

There are times when moulding public opinion works by manipulating traditional mediums of communication, but sometimes — especially at times like these — people will make up their own minds, regardless of what they are told. And in this particular case, the verdict has been delivered: it did happen and everyone is quite happy about it.

So as much as you are Big Brother-like Mr President, you simply cannot alter the minds of the people. It is only the title that has been bestowed upon you, not the liberties that come with it.

Related: There was another, and even more famous, shoe-throwing incident in December 2008 involving George W. Bush. Read Newsline‘s take on that in Footnotes.