China's Shamed Torch Relay Heading To Hell In India

At this point, China's Flame of Shame Torch Relay is laughable, an embarrassment for every citizen of China as protestors have successfully made a mockery of the event. London, Paris and San Francisco hands down go to the protesters, and India is already ruined before the torch arrives, a five mile route already down to a scant two miles as Tibetans and those who support them mass for an uprising. Call me crazy, but think there is a real risk if the IOC allows this charade to continue that someone is going to get seriously hurt...either those providing security are going to make a mistake, over react, or someone from the other side is going to use a bullet to take down the torch, a single shot that travels around the world in a 30 second sound bite. Look for the Flame of Shame Torch Relay to be back in the news in a big way this Thursday.

OLYMPIC RELAY PROTESTS

Tibetans in India Facing Tight Security for Torch

By Rama Lakshmi

Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 16, 2008; Page A11

NEW DELHI, April 15 -- Thousands of Tibetan protesters from across India have gathered here in the past week in anticipation of the arrival of the Olympic torch Thursday, as nervous government officials tightened security to ward off any threat to the relay run.

Protesters have planned hunger strikes, flag marches and dramatic reenactments of the uprising in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital. Some youth groups are plotting what could become disruptive street action along the route of what one Indian television channel called the "tortured torch."

"We are being watched by the authorities constantly. Wherever we go, their shadow is following us. So we carry out much of our planning not in meetings, but by cellphone calls and text messages," said Tenzin Tsundue, a 33-year-old activist, waving his two cellphones as he sat under a colorful panoply of flags and banners.

Many members of the Tibetan Youth Congress, a group that publicly disagrees with the cautious approach of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, have gone underground, fearing police surveillance and preventive detention.

India is home to the largest population of Tibetan exiles in the world and hosts the Tibetan government-in-exile. Indian government officials have told China that they will not try to stop Tibetan protests as long as they are peaceful.