There will be no ban on protest rallies by Tibetans in India, the government clarified to China on Friday after Chinese officials asked if the central government would take a cue from the communist leaders ruling West Bengal.
The clarification comes after reports that the CPM-led West Bengal government, known to be ardent sympathisers of China, banned protest rallies by Tibetans around April 17. However, in Delhi, Tibetan rallies are generally confined to the Jantar Mantar area.
As India’s turn to host the Olympic torch relay on April 17 draws near, there has been apprehension of increased pressure from China regarding the security arrangements. Recently, a four-member security team from China was let in by the government, after Tibetan protesters breached the perimeter walls of the Chinese Embassy here, marking a security embarrassment for the government.
Government sources said details of the security system for the torch relay was being worked out with the Chinese. But Chinese requests for being part of the security cordon for the Olympic flame have been turned down by India, which has told the Chinese that it was perfectly capable of carrying out the security drill.
However, the flame is guarded by a ring of Chinese heavies, all martial arts trained and known to be knocking down obstacles in their way as was seen in London and Paris this week. But the bottomline is that there will be Chinese securitymen around on that day, how much they penetrate the security cordon is still up for negotiation.
India has very good reasons for not allowing Chinese securitymen on the torch route. Apart from the sovereignty issue, there is always the risk that some Tibetan protester might get roughed up by them, which would not be acceptable, said security officials.
The protests have certainly put a sharp edge to India’s relations with China, not least because of the fact that in the face of what has appeared to be gross provocation by the Chinese, both diplomatically and politically, India has remained silent.
However, the fact that the PM told visiting US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi that he considered the Dalai Lama the "greatest living Gandhian" gives an indication of the way India sees the Tibet issue. In fact, the government fully intends for Vice-President Hamid Ansari to meet the Dalai Lama after the present crisis blows over. It’s also no coincidence that the government gave a "no-objection certificate" to the young Karmapa Lama to visit the US at this time.
