It was a day when ordinary and extraordinary achievers came together to show a rare streak of enthusiasm to take part in the Great Delhi Run, a marathon event sponsored by Hutch and supported by Delhi State Government.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit supported the event by giving her gracious presence. Coming out in a big way, celebrities from different walks of life from the young Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal to cricket legend Kapil Dev, all decided to give up their sleep to enthuse those who came out to run. More than 25,000 people representing different nationalities took part in the Great Delhi Run. But for the brave, the earnest and those who wanted to use the media attention to highlight a cause, it was a rare occasion to raise their voice. With a number of Non Government Organizations supporting causes from Tibetan Independence to environment issues to education for all, it was an occasion to give those who don’t have equal opportunities a little bit space in the minds of people and highlight their cause.
Around 80 Tibetans, Men and Women, young and senior citizens, took the opportunity to highlight the Tibetan issue, by carrying Tibetan National Flag, wearing T- Shirts and Caps with Free Tibet captioned on them. Tibetans did manage to capture the attention of the Media, as it was telecasted live in some of the leading TV Channels like DD-I, DD Sports and Zee Sports. Several TV Channels interviewed some Tibetans on their participation.
“It was a great moment to run for a “Free Tibet” in the midst of 25,000 people and millions watching live on Televisions” said Cheme Dorjee, President of TYC Delhi (Samyeling). Executive members of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress were taken to Timarpur Police Station on 15th October, a day before the event as precaution. It was later learned from the police that, the Chinese embassy had pressurized the Indian officials by claiming that Tibetans are planning an illegal demonstration at the Chinese embassy. “Some of our student RTYC members were prevented from taking part in the marathon by Rohini Police, since they received some wrong information that we were planning to protest at the Chinese embassy” said Lobsang Tsundue, PRO, RTYC Delhi (Rohini). Tibetans gathered at around 5:00 am on 16th October and managed to reach the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium before police sealed the Samyeling (MT) area. “We ran on behalf of 6 Million Tibetans and the main purpose of our participation was to highlight the plight of Tibetan people and to support the meaningful event. It was good that none of Tibetan participants gave up in between,” said Dorjee Dhondup, Vice President, RTYC Delhi (Sameyling).
