04/15/2008, 00.00
PAKISTAN – CHINA – TIBET
Send to a friend

Islamabad under siege for the torch as a “twin” torch gets ready for India

The Pakistani government has changed the route for the Olympic torch relay, which arrives tomorrow. Now it will only take place in a stadium. Tibetans get ready for protest in Delhi where a torch relay dedicated to human rights will take to the streets.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) – After a rough electoral period and shocks generated by the emergence of its new government, Pakistan is facing another security threat, the Olympic torch, which has become a moving target for protests by Chinese and Tibetan exiles around the world.

Islamabad has declared an “Olympic state of emergency” of sorts, changing the route of the relay and mobilising thousands of police officers to protect Pakistani torch bearers.

Despite reassurances by Pakistan’s Interior Ministry and the International Olympic Committee, the relay will now be confined to the city's heavily guarded Jinnah Stadium, dedicated to the Father of the Nation, before it leaves for Delhi.

In the Indian capital expectations are not that much better. Some members of exiled Tibetan youth movements in India announced their intention to take part in a “twin” relay dedicated to human rights.

“The Indian government said it would not allow the public to see the torch relay. For this reason we shall have another relay, one protesting against Chinese atrocities in Lhasa,” Tenzin Choeying, president of Students for a Free Tibet, told AsiaNews.

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
President Musharraf to greet torch, which tomorrow moves on to New Delhi
16/04/2008
The captain of the Indian Soccer team boycotts the Olympic torch
01/04/2008
"We are optimistic," says Paul Bhatti as Rimsha Masih's bail hearing postponed to Friday
03/09/2012
The Karmapa Lama could visit the U.S. in May
11/04/2008
Tibetan Olympic torch, sign of freedom and justice
04/08/2008


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”