India Arrests Many Tibetan Protesters

NEW DELHI-A day before the Olympic torch was scheduled to arrive here from Pakistan, dozens of Tibetan protesters wearing yellow “Free Tibet” headbands were arrested Wednesday after they stormed through barricades at the Chinese Embassy, taking heavy security forces in the diplomatic heart of the city by surprise.It was the second embarrassing security breach in two days as India prepared to receive the Olympic torch relay on Thursday. The episode fueled anxiety that the Delhi portion of the relay could be a potentially volatile leg of the Olympic torch’s troubled worldwide tour.India is home to a diaspora of an estimated 100,000 Tibetans, as well as the host for the headquarters in exile of the Dalai Lama. Hundreds of Tibetans, along with volunteers from a number of Tibetan organizations, have traveled to New Delhi in recent weeks to prepare for large-scale protests in the city on Thursday.On Wednesday, amid tight security, runners carried the Olympic flame unmolested around the outside of a sports stadium in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, before a modest, invitation-only crowd. In an effort to pre-empt any possible disturbance, the Pakistani government, a longtime ally of China, deployed thousands of police officers with explosives-sniffing dogs along the torch route, according to The Associated Press.On Tuesday, 27 demonstrators were arrested in Delhi after breaking through police ranks to mount an alternative “protest torch relay” along the central avenue where the official torch will be carried. They managed to make their way down part of the route-despite the presence of many officers practicing security drills nearby-before the police put out their flame.Though mostly silent about their preparations, Indian officials confirmed they planned to deploy more than 10,000 police officers, as well as members of India’s security forces, to safeguard the route here.The torch is expected to proceed along the Rajpath, Delhi’s wide central artery, which runs between the presidential palace, Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the pink sandstone memorial arch called India Gate.The course was shortened to slightly less than two miles after protests disrupted the torch relay in London and Paris.Indian Olympic Officials were so nervous about the possibility of disturbances that they refused even to reveal precise details of when the relay would begin. It was not clear whether officials would permit Delhi residents to stand along the route to watch the torch relay, or allow only selected schoolchildren and invited guests to line the avenue.Asked about security preparations, the president of the Indian Olympic committee, Suresh Kalmadi, said only, “We don’t want scenes of what happened in Paris and London to be repeated here.”By midday Wednesday, the police had already closed the torch route to cars and pedestrians, and had begun installing barricades and metal detectors. Subway stations around the torch route will be shut from Thursday afternoon, a spokesman for the system said, and government offices were to be closed in the area all afternoon.The police presence outside the Chinese Embassy, which has been high since protests began in March, was increased after demonstrators broke through security cordons Wednesday morning. Thick rolls of razor wire were in place around the embassy boundary wall, and numerous police vans and fire trucks were on standby.But even before Wednesday’s arrests, the controversies around the torch had become something of an embarrassment for the Indian and Chinese governments. A number of sports stars and celebrities have bowed out of the relay.Indian news channels reported that Sachin Tendulkar, the country’s most popular cricket player, would be unable to take part because of “a groin strain.” Kiran Bedi, India’s first senior female police officer, withdrew last week, saying that she did not want to “run in a cage.”The Bollywood actress Soha Ali Khan said she would not be carrying the torch “due to very strong personal reasons,” while the Indian soccer captain Bhaichung Bhutia explained his decision to withdraw, saying: “This is my way of standing by the people of Tibet and their struggle. I abhor violence in any form.”About a mile from the torch route, hundreds of Tibetan protesters were preparing themselves for Thursday’s demonstrations.
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As in the days of Noah....