Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan said Wednesday he would take part in the Olympic torch relay in India, spurning calls for a boycott but carrying “a prayer” for the Tibetan people. Khan's announcement came a day after India's football captain Bhaichung Bhutia refused to carry the flame when it comes to New Delhi in just over two weeks to protest China's crackdown in Tibet ahead of the Olympics. Khan, 38, said he had “the highest regard and respect for the struggle the people of Tibet are going through.” At the same time, “I feel the Olympic Games do not belong to China,” Khan said in an open letter on his website (www.aamirkhan.com/blog). Friends, family and people associated with “the Tibetan struggle” had asked Khan not to participate, he said. “If we were to try and find on this planet a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human rights violations (in one way or the other), then I suspect we would be left with very few options, if any at all.” The torch is slated to arrive here on April 17, presenting India with a tough security challenge. Tibetan rights activists in India have threatened to disrupt the relay to highlight abuses in China ahead of the August Games, and late last month a number of them stormed the Chinese embassy complex in the Indian capital. India is seeking to promote good ties with its powerful neighbor China at the same time as hosting Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, his exile government and an ethnic Tibetan population of more than 100,000. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising, has repeatedly said he backs China's right to host the Games and has rejected Beijing's charges he is seeking to sabotage the event. Khan, likened by Indian movie critics to Hollywood's Tom Hanks for his fresh-faced looks, asked people to understand that in carrying the torch “it is not in support of China.” “In fact it will be with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet, and indeed for all people across the world who are victims of human rights violations,” said Khan, who recently made his directorial debut with the box office hit “Taare Zameen Par” (Stars on Earth), a film about childhood dyslexia. The Games “represent for me the coming together of different people across the world despite their differences and difficulties,” Khan said, calling the Olympics an opportunity for sportsmen and women to “showcase their talent” and for others to “marvel at the achievements of the human body.” Bhutia, India's 31-year-old football captain, a Buddhist from northeastern Sikkim state which is wedged between India, China and Nepal, said Monday that he would boycott the torch relay to “show my solidarity” with Tibetans. However, three other Indian athletes invited to join the relay – Milkha Singh, G.S. Randhawa and P.T. Usha – said they would participate. “I feel sports and politics should not be mixed, said Singh, nicknamed the flying Sikh for his running talents, who represented India in the 1960 Rome Olympics. The torch relay, launched last Monday, is the longest ever, lasting 130 days and covering 137,000 kilometers (85,000 miles). It will pass through 19 countries in April before returning to China on May 4. __
