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New Delhi barricaded for relay
17/04/2008 09:08 - (SA)
Parul Gupta
New Delhi - India's capital was barricaded and flooded with police and soldiers on Thursday for the latest and most sensitive leg of the protest-hit Beijing Olympic torch relay.
With India home to more than 100 000 Tibetan refugees, including exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and radical youth groups, authorities have kept their plans for the scaled back relay route a closely guarded secret.
Indian police have voiced fears that in a bid to draw attention to China's crackdown on unrest in Tibet, activists may resort to the most extreme form of protest - setting themselves on fire in front of TV cameras.
Self-immolation fears
"Self-immolation bids by protesters are a major worry," a police official said. Reports said police were equipped with blankets and fire extinguishers.
Dozens of Tibetan protesters were detained overnight as the torch arrived from neighbouring Pakistan, an AFP photographer said, and activists promised more protests - including a parallel torch relay - during the day.
Indian officials have been forced to shorten the relay route in the capital, limiting it to a 2.3km jog along the Raj Path - an avenue running from the presidential palace to India Gate.
"We have taken every precaution to ensure the event remains peaceful," junior home minister Shakeel Ahmed told reporters.
The event is reportedly expected to kick off some time around 16:00 (10:30 GMT), although officials were refusing to confirm the exact time.
"If it was normal, we would have announced it at least 10 days earlier," said a torch relay organiser who asked not to be named. "But because of the present situation... the home ministry wants to be very careful."
- AFP
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