India braces as Olympic torch arrives in heart of Tibetan exile

The Associated Press , Delhi | Thu, 04/17/2008 4:19 PM | Headlines

Chinese cheerleaders and Tibetan protesters greeted the Olympic flame Thursday amida security clampdown for the latest leg of the international torch relay in India, home to the
world's largest Tibetan exile community.

Much of New Delhi's British colonial-era center - the administrative heart of India, home to the presidential palace, Parliament and many government ministries - was beingsealed off to traffic and pedestrians by about 15,000 police ahead of the run.

People who work in the area were advised to keep a low profile, and to stay off roofs and away from the windows of office buildings.

Authorities were desperate to avoid the chaos that had plagued the torch runs in London, Pais and other Western cities.

Upon its arrival in India on Wednesday night, some two dozen Tibetan exiles chanted anti-China slogans and protested along a highway as the torch made its way into the city. Several of the protesters were detained by police.

In Mumbai, India's financial capital, police detaned about 25 Tibetans who attempted to breach the barricades around China's consulate. Protesters shouted "Free Tibet" as they were dragged into police vehicles.

Tibetan exiles, who number more than 100,000 in India, have staged near-daily protests in New Delhi since demonstrations first broke out in Tibet in March and were put down by Chinese authorities.

In recent weeks, they have stormed the Chinese Embassy, which is now surrounded by barricades and barbed wire, gone on hunger strikes, and shaved their heads to protest China's crackdown on the Tibet protests.

The exiles say the torch run through the city is an opportunity to make their point, despite the fact that the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, says he supports China's hosting of the Olympics.

"By speaking out when the Chinese government brings the Olympic torch to India, you will send a strong message to Tibetans, to the Chinese government, and to the world, that Indians support the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people's nonviolent struggle for freedom and justice," said the Students for a Free Tibet, a strident exile group. (***)