Tibetans try to upstage China with own Olympics

By Abhishek Madhukar

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - A handful of exiled Tibetans in India began competing on Thursday in what they said were the "Tibetan Olympics", an event high on symbolism meant to mock China, the host of the real Summer Games in August.

On a lush ground at the foothills of the Himalayas, 13 men and 10 women in white and red track suits emblazoned with the five intertwined rings Olympics logo shot arrows and fired from air guns, marking the opening of the four-day games.

"When the world will go to Beijing in August, Tibetans will feel left out, deprived of their rights," Lobsang Wangyal, the chief organiser, told Reuters.

"So in order to make the Tibetans not feel sad and in order to make Tibetans feel a part of the Beijing Olympics we are celebrating Tibetan Olympics."

The Tibetan games are another form of innovative protests by the exiles against China's crackdown after the March unrest in Lhasa. Nearly 150,000 Tibetans live in India, which has also hosted the Dalai Lama since he fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against the Chinese.

Dharamsala has been the epicentre of Tibetan protests that have dogged the Beijing Olympic torch relay across the world.

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