Give Sarkozy a break, he's a human being

So what if French President Nicolas Sarkozy got a bit testy when a man in the crowd at an agricultural fair refused to shake hands and told him to take his dirty hands off him.

If you were in Sarkozy's place, you would have traded some insults or even come to blows. As far as I can make out from the video, the man provoked Sarkozy. The president told him to get lost.

And later regretted the outburst.

But what of the unidentified man? He walked scot-free.

I was just wondering if the same thing were to happen in India. President Pratibha Patil would have remained silent, stunned by the stranger's temerity.

But her bodyguards would have roughed him up, and had him arrested. Or at least tortured him enough to make sure he didn't talk back even to his mother.

Democracy is okay, but that doesn't mean one can walk around insulting the president. Sarkozy replied in the heat of the moment, just like any normal human being. Give him a break - let him enjoy his trip to South Africa with Carla Bruni.