Olympic Torch in India: Mission Accomplished
As far the Olympic torch's run in India goes, it was a mission well accomplished. The ruling junta in China intended for the torch to be a crowning symbol to the world of its "arrival" on the world stage or what Chinese propaganda claims to be China's "peaceful rise."
So far, where it has been displayed to the public, such as in London, Paris and San Francisco, it has met overwhelming opposition and disdain. In New Delhi, the torch passed through a sterilized bubble in one of the world's largest cities. China's primary mission of showing off its torch was a resounding failure.
Meanwhile, protesters against Chinese atrocities in Tibet ran their own torch relay in Delhi, a spectacular success that got far more viewers than the official Olympic torch. Somehow, I don't think that this is what the ruling junta in Beijing had imagined would occur. All in all, a good job by the Indian government. It burnished its diplomatic and security credentials (and a possible bid by New Delhi to host the 2020 Olympics) that it could provide the security for the torch's safe relay through the city, but at the same time showed the world the difference between autocratic China and democratic India in light of the numerous protest relays that occurred throughout the city. For once, the Indian government seems not to have messed anything up.
New Delhi, April 17, 2008
Tibetan protesters participate in the parallel relay in New Delhi. (AFP Photo)
The Olympic torch made a strange and lonely procession through central Delhi on Thursday, with the event so overshadowed by fears of the anti-Chinese protests that marred its appearances in other cities that no members of the public were allowed close enough to witness it. Here, officials waited for the torch in front of the presidential palace in New Delhi along a boulevard purged of spectators. - NY Times
Tibetan monks prayed next to their own "Olympic torch" in New Delhi on Thursday before a parallel torch relay to protest against Chinese action on Tibet. Demonstrators lit their own torch at the spot where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi are buried and mounted a parallel, peaceful torch relay through central Delhi. - NY Times
Hundreds of Tibetan protesters marched through central Delhi shouting "Die for Freedom" hours before the torch was due to be carried through the Indian capital. - NY Times
So far, where it has been displayed to the public, such as in London, Paris and San Francisco, it has met overwhelming opposition and disdain. In New Delhi, the torch passed through a sterilized bubble in one of the world's largest cities. China's primary mission of showing off its torch was a resounding failure.
Meanwhile, protesters against Chinese atrocities in Tibet ran their own torch relay in Delhi, a spectacular success that got far more viewers than the official Olympic torch. Somehow, I don't think that this is what the ruling junta in Beijing had imagined would occur. All in all, a good job by the Indian government. It burnished its diplomatic and security credentials (and a possible bid by New Delhi to host the 2020 Olympics) that it could provide the security for the torch's safe relay through the city, but at the same time showed the world the difference between autocratic China and democratic India in light of the numerous protest relays that occurred throughout the city. For once, the Indian government seems not to have messed anything up.
New Delhi, April 17, 2008
The Olympic torch made a strange and lonely procession through central Delhi on Thursday, with the event so overshadowed by fears of the anti-Chinese protests that marred its appearances in other cities that no members of the public were allowed close enough to witness it. Here, officials waited for the torch in front of the presidential palace in New Delhi along a boulevard purged of spectators. - NY TimesTibetan monks prayed next to their own "Olympic torch" in New Delhi on Thursday before a parallel torch relay to protest against Chinese action on Tibet. Demonstrators lit their own torch at the spot where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi are buried and mounted a parallel, peaceful torch relay through central Delhi. - NY TimesHundreds of Tibetan protesters marched through central Delhi shouting "Die for Freedom" hours before the torch was due to be carried through the Indian capital. - NY Times
posted by Vivek at 4:22 PM
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