Bedi, a former national tennis champion, said the security arrangements being made by the Government, including surveillance by helicopters, was “suffocating” and aimed primarily at snuffing out dissent.

Asked why she had avoided mentioning the Tibetan cause, she said, “When I decided to run initially, it was in the spirit of sport. I did not want to mix it with Tibet issue even though they have a right to lawful dissent. For me, it was the exhilaration of what the torch carried aloft that was prime. But now it is encaged.”

Interestingly, Bedi’s well-laid website, www.kiranbedi.com was inaugurated by none other than the Dalai Lama in April 2000.

“We are a democracy and we are used to handling such situations. Of course, the Tibetans have a right to seek their snatched away homeland. And we need not snuff it. But manage it. This is what democratic lawful policing is all about.”