Commonwealth Games: Fear is still a major factor

Indian Muslims return after Friday prayers at Shahi Jama mosque in Ahmadabad. Photo / AP

The Muslim rickshaw driver was frightened. He thought he might be lynched.

The mother of a middle-class Indian household in Delhi feared her son might get caught up in violence on his way to university. It is not a situation most New Zealand families ever have to consider.

Likewise, the Muslim who dropped us home in a rickshaw late at night feared trouble on the streets. He wanted a guarantee of protection from us before accepting passengers. On a corporate level, Microsoft was among a number of companies who urged staff to stay at home.

Few people in New Zealand recognise that the Commonwealth Games has just passed its first big security alert - nor do they fully understand the reasons.

The town of Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh is 600km east of Delhi but Thursday's court decision and the subsequent public reaction has eased what shaped as possibly the first big security blow-up around the Commonwealth Games.

The issue had nothing to do with sport and everything to do with religion. The problem was that if a court decision was taken the wrong way, the possible ensuing riots, violence and upset could have spilled over and affected the Games.

While the issue had little impact on the majority of the Commonwealth media, Indian journalists - particularly those of an older generation - were on edge that day.

That was when the verdict was delivered determining the ownership of a piece of land which has been debated and warred over for 482 years. Once you observe the passion and fury of the parties involved - the Islam and Hindu religions - it makes Treaty of Waitangi claims look like schoolyard squabbles.

The gist of the case is that a holy site in the town of Ayodhya has been under dispute. Muslims built a mosque there in 1528 but Hindus claim it is the birthplace of the god Lord Ram.

Debates have gone on for centuries but overflowed into violence and bloodshed in December 1992 when the mosque was destroyed by radical Hindus, triggering riots in which 2000 people died. It was some of the worst religious violence since the partition of India in 1947.

Thousands more have died since in the backlash. It was thought yesterday's decision could provoke the same reaction as thousands of Commonwealth athletes, official and journalists touched down in India.

Nationally there was pressure within media outlets and the proponents of both sides not to provoke violence or incite an aggressive reaction.

In the end, the result was received with relative calm. The high court ruled the site should be divided 2-1 in favour of the Hindus over the Muslims. Both sides have vowed to appeal but also stressed the need to maintain peace.

It was perhaps best summed up by the Economic Times with the headline 'Land Divided, India United', closely followed by some pithy copy in the Indian Express: 'On God: there should be no dispute. On property: compromise. On history: move on.' Speaking to some Indian sports journalists, the feeling was one of consensus that religious fundamentalism is waning and people are becoming more rational.

Yet one court decision doesn't reduce the security risk. Terrorist threats remain in the consciousness. The Taleban derivative Brigade 313 is an organisation with claims of new counter-intelligence dialogue coming from them out of Kabul in recent weeks. Another organisation to have reaped the publicity benefits of a multi-sport event is the Delhi-based The Mars group, who have allegedly joined forces with the Naxalites - a group of Maoist rebels in east India - to supply explosives for a Games attack.

That leads us to the 61 trucks loaded with over 300 tonnes of explosives that just casually "went missing" in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh in August.

That creates anxiety for the police and security forces protecting the Games. But it doesn't make it any easier standing in a queue to the village in 30-degree heat, getting checked three times instead of once.

Surely one thorough test of bags and a robust body pat down, like at the Beijing Olympics, would reduce the fraying of nerves.

Someone has surely said that security has to be thorough - and no argument there. But empty pockets are still empty on the third pat.