Officially, the five rings of the Olympics stand for the five contintents, but in India it could very well mean the five tiers of security that was in place for the Indian leg of the Olympic Torch Relay. Some of the norms, were infact almost that for those of a visiting head of state. From IBNLive.

The Government on Wednesday issued an advisory for the relay on Rajpath, points of which are bizarre to say the least. Windows and doors of all buildings facing Rajpath will be closed from 1300 hrs IST onwards. No visitors will be allowed to enter government buildings overlooking Rajpath after 1300 hrs IST. Visitors cannot leave the buildings after 1300 hrs IST until the relay gets over.

Only government employees with identity cards will be allowed to access these buildings or leave these buildings. Only from military, police and security personnel will be allowed access to rooftops and balconies near Rajpath. Fire safety checks will be carried on all buildings on the route and incinerators will be banned for duration of the rally. Nobody will be allowed to assemble on the lawns of North Block and South Block.

Of course, when you put such restrictions on arterial highways on a working day in Delhi, the result is sheer chaos and pain for the common man.The Hindustan Times reports,

With a staggering 17,000 policemen and commandos swarming the heart of New Delhi, the torch completed its 2.3 km journey down Rajpath that had been sanitized from even the somnolent babus of the many sarkari buildings around. The police’s paranoiac zeal brought the capital to its knees, forced the early closure of offices, put helpless citizens through enormous trials, and resulted in tremendous suffering for children, the elderly, and ill.

Thousands of commuters were stuck for many hours in endless traffic jams caused by blockades that were put up in central and south Delhi after 2 pm. The effect cascaded to other parts of the capital, and caused traffic hold-ups that lasted well past 10 pm. A terminally ill patient, 38-year-old Rupesh Jain, walked all the way from Sunder Nagar to Hotel Claridges since no public transport was available. “No cab was willing to go anywhere in Lutyens’s Delhi,” he told a Hindustan Times journalist who was also walking to our office in Connaught Place.

People heading towards the international and domestic airports were stuck for more than three hours due to congestion on NH-8. Several passengers missed their flights, as did people trying to reach New Delhi railway station.

While, one hand I am happy that the event passed off without any incident and loss of life or limb, I am equally aghast at the amount of money and time invested in such an event which finally was closed to all public!  Of course, the Chinese are happy. The official site of the Olympic Games reports,

The torch that had arrived in New Delhi on the early Thursday morning, was greeted by schoolchildren who had lined up alongside the Rajpath, waving the Indian and Chinese flags.

Did we really need a show of this sort? What exactly did we achieve?

First Posted at Prem Panicker's on April 18, 2008.