Long live King146;s Way

China8217;s Olympic party in Delhi is not an ordinary one. It resurrects the ruler/ruled binaries

In 2004, the Olympic torch relay extended from the Qutub Minar to the National Stadium, and the torch travelled more than 30 km. Today, not only will the torch8217;s route be just 3 km but there will also be an element of momentous irony in the stretch it is designed to cover 8212; from Vijay Chowk to the India Gate along the Rajpath. India, too afraid to dishonour the neo-imperial pretensions of China, must be thankful for this great colonial legacy of a purer kind. The irony is directed at the democratic credentials of the

Indian Republic in more ways than one. Rajpath literally translates as King8217;s Way. And our Rajpath used to be called the King8217;s Way when India had a foreign sovereign, a king. But perhaps it is the memory of India as a land of a thousand kings that helped the Rajpath to persist without practically a change in name. It is the Rajpath, as opposed to the Janpath. And it will host the torch relay today.

The Olympic torch has run into trouble around the world, with recent protests in London, Paris, San Francisco, Buenos Aires. London and Paris were carnivals of dissenting banners and flags. In San Francisco, the torch had to be secretly re-routed. So too in Islamabad, Beijing8217;s trusted ally. In fact, they ought to envy India8217;s good luck. India need not prevent the public from viewing the torch, albeit from a distance. All it has to do is lay the king8217;s claim to the Rajpath and barricade it with barbed wire, summon heavy contingents of security and police personnel and tell the janta to be away.

When Edwin Lutyens designed colonial Delhi, the King8217;s Way was supposed to be its centrepiece, offering the Viceroy8217;s Palace on Raisina Hill a majestic view of the city. As our rightful colonial inheritance, this ceremonial boulevard is the republic8217;s most famous and symbolic road. India holds its Republic Day parade here and the republic8217;s citizens, and others who are not, partake of the erstwhile viceroy8217;s view every ordinary day. But China8217;s epic Olympic party is not an ordinary one. It calls for a day8217;s resurrection of the primary binaries of the rulers and the ruled.