Editorial: Delhi on high alert so team should be safe

Opinion

The shooting of two Taiwanese tourists at a mosque in the heart of New Delhi has heightened fears about the terrorist threat to the Commonwealth Games, only days before the first athletes are due to arrive in the Indian capital.

The attack, attributed to the Indian Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group, was clearly calculated to achieve just that.

Many countries, including New Zealand, are making their final checks of venues, facilities and security arrangements. Providing the go-ahead for participation has got a little harder.

Nonetheless that green light should still be given. To do otherwise would be to surrender to fear - and to hand terrorism a victory.

That is not to say the concerns surrounding the Games should be understated. The ashen faces of New Zealand cricketers who witnessed the aftermath of terrorist outrages on the sub-continent carried a powerful message.

So, too, did the more recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan and the terrorist assault on Mumbai, in which more than 170 people died. Several sporting events involving foreign competitors were shifted from India as a consequence.

But such onslaughts relied, as must be the case with terrorism, on the element of surprise. There will be no such luxury for the Indian Mujahideen, or any other group, when the Games start on October 3.

Events like the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games offer terrorists a rare chance to capture global attention. But that very opportunity puts security forces on high alert and explains why there has been no large-scale incident since the massacre of defenceless Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The Indians seem wholly aware of the threat. Indeed, the Commonwealth Games Federation, which has employed private consultants to provide it with continuous reports on security arrangements, seems more worried about the standard of hygiene and sanitation in New Delhi, as well as work needing to be completed at the athletes' village.

Last month, the federation's head, Mike Fennell, described security in the city as "top-class".

His comment was partly a response to a call to boycott the event by Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser. She said India was not ready to prevent a repeat of Munich.

Her voice, however, has been an isolated one. Sir John Walker's insistence that New Zealanders should go to the Games is more typical of the advice of former athletics greats. Several have pointed to the importance of the Commonwealth event as a stepping stone for young New Zealanders.

In that respect, it is not as important to, say, English athletes, who have plentiful competition in Europe. To date, however, no one from that country has cited security concerns as a reason for declining to go to the Games.

New Zealand must decide by Friday to make a final commitment to compete in New Delhi. As worrying as the random shooting at the mosque was, it should not be the catalyst for a dramatic change of mind.

The security assessment that will be central to chef de mission Dave Currie's final report will take a broader view of the region and the measures put in place by India for the Games. It is this verdict that will provide the main guide for the New Zealand Olympic Committee and for individual athletes.

The security analysis will doubtless make reference to a country and a city at high risk of terrorist attack at any time. But it will also note that India and New Delhi are on the highest of alerts because of the Games, the biggest multi-sport event there since the 1982 Asian Games.

That state of readiness is likely to deter terrorists, just as it should encourage the athletes of the Commonwealth to stand united against terrorism.