Commonwealth Games 2010: Baton finally reaches Delhi
With the clock ticking down before the start of the Commonwealth Games, the excitement is palpable in the Indian capital,
New Delhi, which is hosting a major sporting extravaganza for the first time in nearly two decades.
The Games commence on the 3rd of October and with four days remaining the baton has arrived in the host city.
The Baton reached New Delhi after it entered the host nation through the Wagah border check post where
India shares borders with Pakistan.
The traditional Queen's Baton crossed the Haryana-Delhi Kapashera Border and is on its way to the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium where the torch will be lit during the length of the Games, which are set to run for 12 days.
There was a grand reception to welcome the baton. Later it was handed over to
Delhi state's Education and Sports Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely.
The welcoming ceremony was also hosted by Shera, the official mascot of the 19th Commonwealth Games; which
India claims would be the best in the history of the event that is contested by former British colonies.
Amid much fanfare, the baton left for the next destination which is the venue where it is set to be handed over to the Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC), Suresh Kalmadi.
The baton will be carried by Olympic Gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who would be gracing the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony is hoped to be a dazzling affair which is set to captivate its audience with a pertinent projection
of Indian culture.
On the other hand, the Queen's Baton Relay symbolizes the unity amongst the Commonwealth nations. It is a commemoration of the spirit of the organization wherein the members promise to stand by each other and work collectively
towards making the world a better place.
The baton as always carries a message from the head of the
Commonwealth of Nations - Queen Elizabeth II.
Her message is to be read out by Prince Charles at the opening ceremony. The baton was released from the
Buckingham Palace in London in the presence of the Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil. Since then the baton has traveled by different modes all around the world.
The baton has gone through thousands of hands and covered some 20,000 km in 340 days.
The relay was one of the longest relays in the history of the Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile it is not all hunky dory for the organisers even though they have succeeded in getting through most of the troubles at the
Games Village.
As was the case in the last couple of days, several groups who came together as the Anti-Commonwealth Games Front, protested against the Games claiming that the organisers had exploited and neglected the condition of the
urban poor.
Scores of protesters had banners in their hands and were even heard shouting slogans against the Games in
New Delhi.
Shalini Mishra, one of the representatives of the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), said that their body was against everything that the Games symbolize.
She added that the Games were not the true reflection of
India as a country and Delhi as a city.
"The urban poor have faced a lot of harassment in the name of the Games. Some 200,000 people, which is a rough estimate, have been dispossessed from their homes because of the Games. Some 300,000 street vendors in
Delhi have lost their livelihood because of the Games. Beggars have been rounded up. Workers have been subjected to exploitation and every decision about the Commonwealth Games has been basically undemocratic and secretive in nature,"
said Mishra.
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