India Braces for Protests as Relay Begins

By GAVIN RABINOWITZ, Associated Press
April 17, 2008

NEW DELHI — Thousands of police patrolled central New Delhi, guarding against anti-China protests for the Olympic torch relay today in India, the heart of the world's Tibetan exile community.

About 100 Tibetan exiles tried to breach the security cordon yesterday around the Chinese Embassy, and police dragged away about 50 of them, loading them into police vans, but not before they manage to spray paint "No Olympics in China" on a street near the embassy.

After decades of frosty relations, New Delhi is trying to forge closer ties with China, and Indian officials are desperate to avoid the chaos during torch runs in London, Paris, and San Francisco.

Many in India's 100,000-member Tibetan exile community, the world's largest, have threatened more of the protests that they've staged nearly every day here since demonstrations first broke out in Tibet in March and were put down by Chinese officials.

In recent weeks, Tibetan exiles here have stormed the Chinese Embassy, which is now surrounded by barricades and barbed wire, gone on hunger strikes, and shaved their heads to protest China's crackdown on protests in Tibet.

The exiles say the torch run through the city is a perfect opportunity to make their point, despite the fact that the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, says he supports China's hosting of the Olympics.

Protests are expected to begin early today, hours before the run scheduled for the 4 p.m. (6:30 a.m. EDT) start of the relay.