Olympic Torch Makes New Delhi Stop Amid Tight Security

A heavily-barricaded Indian capital greeted the Olympic torch Thursday, with about 15,000 security personnel deterring protesters from coming anywhere near the relay on one its most sensitive legs.

For days, tensions were high in India, home to 100,000 Tibetan refugees, the Tibetan parliament-in-exile and the Dalai Lama. Two dozen protesters were arrested Wednesday after 100 people tried to break through the security cordon at the Chinese embassy.

But the relay was largely uneventful. Though several dozen protesters were arrested across the city in minor skirmishes with police, there was no large-scale violence. The 1.5-mile relay route, from the British Raj-era presidential palace to the India Gate monument, was guarded by extremely heavy security and the event itself was brief and closely choreographed.

'The way they have it, it's like entering a military base,' said Tenzin Choeying, president of the India chapter for Students for Free Tibet. 'It's not like San Francisco or London, where the torch relay was a public event.'

Earlier Thursday, about 5,000 protesters marched in a parallel 'peace rally' in another part of the city that met with some police resistance. As a few dozen police watched, protesters marched in a circle, carrying signs that read 'Olympics Do Not Belong in China' and yelling, 'We want justice. We want freedom.'

Some of the mostly young group said they were content with a nonviolent show of expression. 'We just want to show that we want an independent Tibet,' said Kunga Chozor, a student.

The torch arrived in India from Pakistan, where it was safeguarded in a closed-door run through a stadium in Islamabad. Indian authorities shortened the route from an original 5.6-mile run after consulting with the Chinese. A number of Indian athletes invited to carry the torch also backed out in the days preceding the rally, citing 'personal reasons.'

Though home to the largest number of the world's 140,000 Tibetan refugees, India has been careful to avoid letting the issue of Tibet disrupt its growing ties with China, a former enemy that is now India's largest trading partner. The torch headed for the airport as soon as the relay was finished, en route to Bangkok.

印度首都新德里周四设置了重重安保措施迎接奥运圣火的到来，在这一火炬接力最敏感的站点，大约15,000安保人员使得抗议者无法靠近火炬半步。

特别报导

• 2008年北京奥运会连日来，在印度这个达赖喇嘛及10万藏族流亡人士的大本营里气氛一直高度紧张。周三约有100名抗议者试图冲过中国驻印大使馆的警戒线，最后有二三十人被捕。

尽管如此，整个火炬传递行程基本上还算平静。新德里警方在一些小规模冲突中逮捕了数十名抗议者，但并没有大规模的暴力事件发生。从总统府到印度门的这条全长1.5英里的火炬传递路线中，安保措施异常严密，整个仪式简短但策划精细。

自由西藏学生运动(Students for Free Tibet)印度分部负责人曲英(Tenzin Choeying)表示，印度的做法就像是在一个军事基地里面传递火炬；而旧金山或伦敦就不一样，那里的火炬传递是一个公开活动。

周四早些时候，大约5000名抗议者在新德里的另一片区域进行了“和平集会”，遭遇到了警方的一定阻挠。在几十名警察的监视下，抗议者绕圈前行，手持标语，上书“奥运会不属于中国”，并大喊“我们要公平、我们要自由”。

自由西藏学生运动的一些成员表示他们对这种非暴力的表达方式感到满意。一位名为孔扎(Kunga Chozor)的学生说：“我们只是想表明我们想要一个独立的西藏。”

火炬传递的上一站是巴基斯坦，该国在伊斯兰堡的一个有高度安全保障的体育场里举行了一个封闭火炬传递仪式。在和中国政府磋商之后，印度方面缩短了原计划的5.6英里长的传递路程。有一些受邀参加接力的印度运动员在前几天以“个人原因”为由退出了圣火传递。

虽然全球14万藏族流亡人士中大多数都待在印度，但后者一直在很小心地不让西藏问题破坏日渐升温的中印关系──中国这个印度曾经的敌人现在已经成为了这个国家最大的贸易伙伴。

在新德里的接力完成后奥运圣火即被送至机场，前往下一站泰国曼谷。

• 6小时掌握学英语的秘诀！——点击看答案
• 专治男女记不住单词的秘密