Muntazar Zaidi is Muslim world's hero and has truly represented sentiments of the Muslim Ummah by humiliating the American President. It is a sad that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri-al-Maliki did not have the guts to stand up to the occupiers of Iraq. In fact, he disgraced himself by terming America "a friend and ally" and Muntazar's act as "shameful". This is what democracy has given to the Muslim World - compliant, puppet rulers who are only concerned about looking after Western interests in the Muslim World. We only have puppets, be it Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan. There is one aspect of the shoe-throwing incident, which none of us has so far acknowledged. It is interesting to note that Muntazar Zaidi is a Shia Muslim. Some have dug in to his past and labeled him a Socialist but he is still a hero of the Muslim World. He is a hero of both Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. And this just goes to show how far the Muslim world has come in her yearning for unity. This urge is so strong now that our sectarian and ethnic divisions have become irrelevant. -MOEZ MOBEEN, Islamabad, via e-mail, December 18.