AW has the news from New Delhi:
Nobody knew what time the event would begin, or even how many would be taking part in it. Barring some 500 ‘dignatories’ invited for the event and hordes of schoolchildren pressganged into service, nobody seemed to know what the hell was going on as the Capital of India turned into a virtual fortress in order to protect the Olympic Torch here on its latest leg of its troubled world tour.
Some 15,000 policemen and commandoes have been pressed into service to protect the flame on its brief 2.3 km route from Rajpath to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Meanwhile, Tibetan protestors held an alternative torch run that started from Raj Ghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, dubbing their torch the ‘people’s torch’. Those who participated and spoke included novelist and thinker Arundhati Roy and senior politician George Fernandes. At least 50 protestors were detained.
The official torch reportedly resulted in a spate of traffic jams as the entire route was sealed off and all roads and Metro stations in the area were shut down. The relay finally started shortly after 4 pm, and was shown live on television as startled viewers saw runners — many of them clearly out of shape, some waving feebly – jog along for some 10-12 steps (given the shortness of the route), surrounded by officials and a ring of securitymen.
Earlier in the day, Hindustan Times had a report that claimed that the reason why actors Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan had agreed to participate in the run was because of commercial consideration to the brands, Coca-Cola and Lenovo, that they respectively endorse.
[Pic: BBC News]
