Thousands in India protest during Olympic torch relay
NEW DELHI - Tens of thousands of pro-Tibetan demonstrators gathered across India yesterday to protest the Olympic torch relay, facing off with a massive show of security mobilized to ensure the flame's journey to Beijing could proceed.
A 70-person relay team of Indian athletes and celebrities carried the torch on a truncated, two-mile run through the city's colonial-era government center - a part of town that had been closed to traffic and emptied of people to protect the flame's symbolic journey toward the start of the Olympic Games in August.
Hundreds, including at least 150 Tibetans, were arrested or detained in at least four different cities, including a group held by police in New Delhi after storming the hotel where the torch was housed. Another 30 were hustled away by police from in front of the Chinese consulate in Mumbai. Along with demonstrations in New Delhi and Mumbai, an estimated 30,000 had gathered in Bangalore and thousands more in the Hindu spiritual capital of Varanasi to protest China's human rights record and its treatment of Tibet.
India is home to the world's largest community of exiled Tibetans, and the arrival of the torch here - after chaotic tours through London, Paris, and San Francisco - was expected to draw large crowds.
Some 15,000 police were mobilized in New Delhi, lining the capital boulevard and clearing thousands from parks in advance of the relay. The blue-track-suited members of a special Chinese torch protection squad were also along to secure the relay route.
After demonstrators broke through the security cordon at the New Delhi hotel and were arrested, the torch relay was able to get underway. Given the shortened route, the dozens of relay runners were able to hold the torch for only a few seconds each as it proceeded between Rajpath and India Gate - a route that took less than an hour to complete.
At India Gate about 25 Chinese nationals welcomed the last runner by waving China's flag, a gold star with a hammer-and-sickle against a red background. Indian flags were painted on their cheeks.
"Everybody should support the Olympics," said Travis Ren, 25, a Chinese national here as he held aloft a banner supporting the torch run. "We'd like to thank India for providing security for our torch."
There were few spectators, and after the brief relay, the torch was bundled off to its next stop, Australia.
The world torch tour was designed to highlight China's hosting of the Olympics in August and the country's emergence as a global power. But protests over Tibet and other issues have turned the celebration into a series of stage-managed events. San Francisco officials changed the relay route at the last minute to dodge protesters - avoiding the rest of the audience in the process - while in Pakistan, the torch was consigned to circling a heavily guarded sports stadium.
Hours ahead of the official relay in New Delhi, exiled Tibetans staged a parallel torch run to protest China's rule in Tibet.
