More than 50 Tibetan exiles on Thursday carried an alternative Olympic torch through the streets of the Indian capital to protest China's recent crackdown in Tibet, organizers said.
Chospel Zotpa, a Tibetan monk and president of the Himalayan Buddhist Association, lit the "Tibetan Freedom Torch" after its arrival from Taiwan, and led the Tibetan exiles in taking an oath that they would support the Himalayan region's struggle for freedom.
The shadow relay started in Olympia, Greece _ much like the official international torch relay _ on March 10 and traveled through several countries for nearly four months before arriving in New Delhi.
The torch will travel to several Indian cities and reach Ladakh in India's Jammu-Kashmir state bordering Tibet on Aug. 8, to coincide with the opening of the Beijing games.
The shadow torch relay was meant to highlight China's response to riots and protests that broke out in Tibet in March. China says 22 people died in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, while foreign Tibet supporters say many times that number were killed during the demonstrations and subsequent crackdown.
"The Chinese government is trying to use the Olympic torch relay to cover up its brutal occupation of Tibet and abysmal human rights record," said a statement by the Core Group for Tibetan Cause.
China has governed Tibet since communist troops marched into the Himalayan region in the 1950s. India is home to many Tibetans, including the region's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled after a failed uprising in 1959.
"We want to ... shift the spotlight to the Tibet issue and show the reality, the suffering of the Tibetan people that has been going on," said Tsering Choedup, a regional coordinator for the International Tibet Support Network.
The participants added that they regretted the International Olympic Committee's decision to reject Tibetan representation at the games. The application was lodged to draw attention to the Tibetan cause but was rejected because Tibet is not an independent country and not a member of the IOC. Tibetans in China who meet Olympic qualification standards can compete under the Chinese flag.
He says he wants some form of autonomy short of independence that would allow Tibetans to freely practice their culture, language and religion.
