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Tibetans plan parallel torch relay in Delhi

Tension is soaring ahead of the New Delhi leg of the Olympic torch relay on April 17 with thousands of Tibetans planning to hold a parallel run.

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NEW DELHI: Tension is soaring ahead of the New Delhi leg of the Olympic torch relay on April 17 with thousands of Tibetans planning to hold a parallel run.

Chinese security officials arrive in the national capital on Tuesday to take stock of the final security arrangement for the relay.

The relay for a ‘Free Tibet’ — with nearly 5,000 participants — would begin from Samta Sthal (near Rajghat) and culminate at Jantar Mantar.

“We are organising the relay to protest against the Chinese atrocities in Tibet. We have nothing against the Olympic torch relay and our protest will be peaceful. Hundreds of Indians, including members from political parties like the BJP and Samata Party, school students and even members of auto-rickshaw unions, have pledged their support to the rally,” said Acharya Yeshi Phuntsok, member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.

Prominent Indians, including Booker prize winning author Arundhati Roy and former defence minister George Fernandes, are expected to participate in the Tibetan Torch relay, according to Tibetan activists.

“We have requested all Tibetans living in and around Delhi to participate in the rally. Jantar Mantar, where the rally will conclude, will be transformed into a mini-Tibet,” said Tseten Norbu of the Tibetan Solidarity Committee (TSC) that is organising the relay.
Tibetan protests have gained momentum in Delhi in the past one week.  

Last week, nearly 200 Tibetans, mostly monks, had walked down from Dharamsala to New Delhi to participate in the protests taking place in the national capital. Nearly 100 Tibetans participate in a hunger strike every day at the Jantar Mantar.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police have strictly warned Tibetan groups in the capital to refrain from disrupting of the torch relay. “Protestors have been told to desist from any kind of violence. The police will meet force with force. We will not allow any disruption of the relay and if need be, stern action, even arrests, will be ordered against miscreants,” a senior police official said.

The route of the torch relay has already been shortened from 9-km to a little over 2-km, confining it to Rajpath against the earlier plan to carry it from Red Fort to India Gate.

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