Blog@GraceJunction

The 2008 Olympics is hosted by China and will be held in Beijing. However the Torch relay has seen protests across the globe and that too at some unexpected and unprecedented places. The supporters of ‘Freedom of Press’ have staged protests at some place. However, the principal protesters, who have also managed to get enough political mileage have been the supporters of Tibet.

The Olympics is best remembered by its symbol-the Olympic Rings. These five intertwined rings represent the unity of five inhabited continents (with America regarded as one single continent). They appear in five colors on a white field on the Olympic Flag. These colors, white (for the field), red, blue, green, yellow, and black were chosen such that each nation had at least one of these colors in its national flag.

The official Olympic Motto is “Citius, Altius, Fortius”, a Latin phrase meaning “Swifter, Higher, Stronger”.

The Olympic Creed:

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”

The Olympic Torch is an important marketing promotion and symbol of the Olympic Games. It is ignited several months before the opening celebration of the Olympic Games at the site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. Eleven women, representing the roles of priestesses, perform a ceremony in which the torch is kindled by the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror. The Olympic Torch Relay supposedly ushers in the spirit of the Olympics through the regions that it is taken and is a foreplay to the dramatic buildup that is staged at the Olympics opening ceremony. 

The Olympic Torch Relay ends on the day of the opening ceremony in the central stadium of the Games. The final carrier is often kept secret until the last moment, and is usually a sports celebrity of the host country. The final bearer of the torch runs towards the cauldron, usually placed at the top of a grand staircase, and then uses the torch to start the flame in the stadium. It is considered a great honour to be asked to light the Olympic Flame. After being lit, the flame continues to burn throughout the celebration of the Olympics and is extinguished at the end of the closing ceremony of the Games.

However, on the 49th anniversary of Tibet’s uprising against China, claims for independence were pressed for with an increased impetus and force. The Chinese were outraged by the timing of the fresh uprising and stepped in with shootings, as usual, to bring things under control taking a toll of over a 100 tibetans which included monks and children. It only asked for more trouble, at least for the Torch relay and more sensational news for the journalists worldwide!

Actually, the Olympic torch relay descended into chaos in Paris with officials having to extinguish the flame and carry it by bus when pro-Tibet protesters tried to seize it. The flame was doused at least twice. Demonstrators carried banners declaring “Boycott Chinese goods” and “Save Tibet.” Earlier, the torch faced similar protests in San Francisco and London. Once doused, the torch is re-ignited using the original flame from Athena. But of course, backup torches are carried in the large entourage that accompanies the torch bearer.

Now the scene is that a number of celebrities have withdrawn from the event or made themselves unavailable in protest at China’s heavy-handed crackdown on Tibetan protesters who after all are only demanding independence!

A relook at history tells us that the modern convention of moving the Olympic Flame via a relay system from Olympia to the Olympic venue began with the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany and it was a part of the Nazi propaganda machine’s attempt to add myth and mystique to Adolf Hitler’s regime. Hitler saw the link with the ancient Games as the perfect way to illustrate his belief that classical Greece was an Aryan forerunner of the modern German Reich! So the Torch afterall has not been free of political connotations from the beginning!

China a permanent member of the UN Security Council has a notorious reputation to back it up, especially concerning human rights and freedom. However, like Hitler, the present chinese regime is not letting go an opportunity to add myth and mystique to their reign! They are telling the people everywhere, “Citius, Altius, Fortius” and that the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well!

I am not sure about the rest of the world, but the Tibetans surely have heard the Chinese loud and clear and are fighting well. They are for now focussing on the struggle, irrespective of whether they triumph or not. The Tibetans are known worldwide because of their ‘oft-in-the-news’ leader and winner of the highest civilian award given by the US Congress, the Dalai Lama clad in maroon. They have surely brought in a new color to the Olympics this year. Looking at the develpoments many nations have started thinking about whether to participate in the Beijing Olympics at all!

China is not just huge in terms of population but also in terms of economic prowess and clout that it now exercises. Any backing out by any nation at this stage will not be ignored by the Chinese. The Chinese have been preparing for this event since over a decade and they have invested and planned for every member nation. Not only will all those exercises be considered as futile, but the non-participation will surely hurt its political sentiments, pride and relationships, not only with that nation but also with aligned nations.

So what seems like a simple protest to the relay will not end there. The torch (flame)may only get marooned but the hurt dragon will unleash another kind of flame across the nations.

I am reminded of some quotes from the Bible:

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet.

While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.

Tags: 2008 Olympics, Beijing, China, Dalai Lama, Protest, Tibet, Torch Relay

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 11:46 am and is filed under Articles, Geo, Relationships, Society, Sports, Troubles & Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.