The Olympic torch has been re-lit in Beijing on March 31, in a grand ceremony to start the month long ‘Journey of Harmony’, a week after the ceremony in Greece was marred by the Tibetans protesters.
The ceremony was held at Panathenian Stadium where the first modern Olympic Games were staged in 1896 and then it was handed over to Chief Beijing Olympics Organiser Liu Qi by the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Minos Kyriakau at Athens on March 30.
Earlier on March 24 the ceremony was disrupted by the members of the Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders, who unfurled the black banner, in which the Olympic rings were shown as handcuffs.
The flame will pass through 20-country and will cover 137,000-km journey across the globe in 130 days and then it will arrive at the National Stadium in Beijing on August 8 for opening ceremony. Thousands of torchbearers will carry the flame passing it from one to another.
India’s take
India has been praised by Chinese government, which expects that India will continue supporting China after India reaffirmed its take on Tibet that it is an integral part of China and it will not allow any anti –Chinese forces to operate from its soil.
Previously the passage of Olympic Flame to India was questioned because of security reasons. But National Security Advisor M K Narayanan assured that India would beef up security for the smooth passage of the flame, which will arrive here on April 17.
International Approach
Though the Sacred Flame has been lit to pass the message of peace, cooperation, and mutual respect but many proponents of human rights have asked to boycott Beijing Olympics in order to press China to come to a dialogue with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
However, European Union (EU) foreign ministers rejected the call for a boycott of the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games over the Tibet issue. The statement made by the Dimitri Rupel, Slovenian Foreign Minister said, “We are separating the issue of human rights dialogue, intercultural dialogue and so on from events like Olympic Games and participation in those.”
While Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch earlier has said, “The Olympic torch should not be turned into a smokescreen to cover up human rights abuses.”
No doubt the Olympic flame has flared up Tibetans protest but it has also brought uneasiness and embarrassment to the Chinese government.
The recent protest by Tibetans to mark the anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese regime in 1959 has been brutally suppressed by Chinese government. But Dalai Lama, who says “To be a good Olympics host, China must improve their records in the field of human right and religious freedom and environment,” does not advocate the boycott.
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