I don’t want to run in Olympic relay as caged woman: Bedi

Zeenews Bureau New Delhi, April 09: Magsaysay Awardee Dr Kiran Bedi refused to carry the Olympic torch by saying that she doesn’t want to run in the event as ‘caged woman’. She also slammed the tight security arrangements for the event. “Better to let the torch travel on wheel or with the army”, a visibly upset Bedi said.Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been invited to attend the Indian leg of Olympic torch relay, scheduled to be held on April 17 in New Delhi. President of IOA, Suresh Kalmadi, informed that some young members of parliament (MPs) including Rahul Gandhi have been invited. “Though I am yet to meet Rahul personally, but formal invitation has been sent to him,” Kalmadi told a private TV channel here. However, sources close to Gandhi family disclosed that the young Gandhi is unlikely to accept the invitation. Though the reason behind Gandhi’s stand is not yet clear. Earlier, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, who has been ruled out of the ongoing Test series against South Africa, has been invited to carry the Olympic torch. Other greats from diverse fields like Leander Paes, actors Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan, Tata Consultancy Services CEO Subramanian Ramadorai, Ingram Micro India CEO Jaishankar Krishnan and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Vaibhav Bagaria from Nagpur will also take part in the event. Ex Olympian Milkha Singh and India’s number one golfer Jyoti Randhawa too have confirmed their participation in the event. The torch-relay is taking place in the wake of worldwide protests by Tibetans against the crackdown in Lhasa. India’s football captain Baichung Bhutia is the only notable exception to have heeded the calls for boycotting the relay.
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Kiran Bedi, as former senior police officer, should know that the security coverage is inevitable given the threat perception. So she is simply trying to sound smart. Let her make her position clear on Tibetan freedom. - K.Venugopal - Mumbai