New Delhi, April 1: Aamir Khan will carry the Olympic torch but he won’t be able to run too far.

India has cut short the Olympic torch route in Delhi, handing Tibetan protesters a public relations trophy.

The torch, at the centre of a storm ever since clashes broke out in Tibet, will now be showcased only along a 3km stretch of Rajpath instead of the original 10km on the Republic Day parade route. The flame is scheduled to make it to Delhi on April 17.

“The route has been shortened because of security concerns. We did not want to take any chances by exposing the Olympic torch over a longer stretch,” a senior official said.

The torch may have lost the Republic Day route but the security will be no less stringent. Sources said the security would be kept at the level of Republic Day and Independence Day. China had threatened to skip the Indian leg of the relay unless the security was foolproof.

Rajpath has already been cordoned off with the lawns closed to the public. On April 17, nearly 10,000 policemen will be on duty to protect the torch and the Chinese embassy.

At a meeting chaired by the home secretary yesterday, Delhi police commissioner Y.S. Dadwal was told the security of the torch and the route was the responsibility of his force. The police have been asked to keep Delhi’s large number of Tibetans in check.

But the Tibetans, who have been requesting celebrities not to bear the torch, may have achieved their objective by turning it into an issue and forcing Delhi to roll back its plans. Yesterday, football star Bhaichung Bhutia had on his own refused to carry the torch.

Aamir, however, turned down the Tibetan activists’ request to skip the relay. The actor, who had rallied behind those displaced by the Narmada dam, asked the Tibetans “to understand that when I do run with the torch on April 17, it is not in support of China. In fact, it will be with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet.”

“I have the highest regard for the struggle that the people of Tibet are going through. I completely empathise with them,” Aamir said in a statement posted on his weblog.

He said he was against any form of violence and was “deeply upset” whenever human rights were violated.

“I feel the Olympic Games do not belong to China,” he said, adding that the Games represented the coming together of people from across the world despite differences and difficulties, and provided an opportunity for sportsmen and women to showcase their talent.

“I am no one to tell any group of people how they should conduct their struggle. I am not part of it and am not going through what they are going through. But my heart goes out to them,” he said.