The Barbaric Sport

It is a part of human nature that as we get hold of power, we become dominant and try our level best to suppress the innocent and vulnerable. In this case the innocent one is our wildlife that is being suppressed because of our self-centered needs.

A question that I often ask is that if humans are a powerful species then why do we suppress animals to showcase how superior we are as a species ? As it is rightly said that the powerful does not need to showcase its power for the society to call him or her powerful. For example a Cheetah would never run against a dog to prove his speed.

The Jallikattu festival is celebrated across the southern state of Tamil Nadu in India. The Jallikattu sport is performed during the four day festival of Pongal. The festival is known to be celebrated to worship cattle stock. This festival can be traced back to 400 – 100 BC during the Tamil classical period when it was common among the Ayar people who lived in the Mullai region of the ancient Tamil.

During the event a bull is left open among the crowd of people and the people need to get hold of the bull’s hump and hang on to it until it stops. They call it taming the bull but that’s highly questioned if that is taming when 10 to 20 people are continuously trying to jump on a bull and stop it. Bos Indicus bulls are bred specifically by people of the village for the festival.

The main concern reported by animal activists and organizations was the way they are treated before and after the event. They reported that the bull owners rub lemon juice and chilli powder into the bull’s eyes and genitals and also intoxicate them to aggravate them. As the animal activists questioned the people how they could make a calm animal so ferocious?

Some more claims made were, that the bulls are even stabbed with knives or sticks, punched, jumped on and swept across the floor as the crowd tries to subdue them. This isn’t bull taming, it’s more of bull torturing by intentionally stressing and terrifying the bull.

But for the farmers Jallikattu is of vital importance. According to the people it is a moment to showcase their own strength and that of their bulls whom they claim to ‘love’. Supporters to the event say that the festival is a part of their tradition passed on from generation to generation and followed unquestionably. Also, according to them the event is organized to celebrate the spirit of the hard-working farmers, who work in the fields day and night with the assistance of their animal friend.

Along with human injuries and fatalities, bulls themselves sometimes sustain injuries or die, which people may interpret as a bad omen for the village. Between 2008 and 2014, 43 humans and 4 bulls were killed during the festival. In 2017 alone, 23 people died in addition to around 2500 people getting injured and even the bulls got injured. In 2020, 5 people were killed during the event. Here I would really question that where are the bulls at fault and why are they being treated like that?

On 27th November, 2010, the supreme court permitted the government of Tamil Nadu to allow Jallikutta for 5 months in a year and ordered the District Collectors to get the animals registered with the Animal Welfare Board before they are allowed to participate for the event and in return the Animal Welfare Board was permitted to send their representatives to monitor the festival. In addition to this the Tamil Nadu government also ordered that rupees two lakh is to be deposited by the organizer as a fine if there is any casualties and allowed a team of vets to certify the bull for participation in the event and to be prepared for any injury to the bulls during the event.

In 2011 the Ministry of Environment and Forests issued a notification to ban the use of bulls for the festival. But the practiced continued under Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act No 27 of 2009. On 7 May, 2014 the Supreme Court had completely banned the festival and if the ban was to be flouted, it would be equivalent to violating the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act,1960. The court had requested the Modi Government to include bulls within the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act,1960, this would have completely stopped Jallikattu festival for once and for all. Supreme Court also said that such events inherent cruelty as it’s obvious that a bull is not suited for such events and this event involves subjecting them to unnecessary pain and suffering.

But on 8 January 2016. the Ministry of Environment and Forests permitted to continue the festival and thus ended the ban. However yet again on 14 January 2016, Supreme Court issued a stay on these orders and therefore continued the ban after a petition filed by Animal Welfare Board of India and PETA India leading to a protest in Tamil Nadu. In response to the WYO or the World Youth Organization launched a protest against the ban on Jallikattu and also demanded a ban on PETA India.

On 8 January 2017, when the festival should have started, several hundred protesters conducted a rally at Chennai Marina opposing the ban on Jallikattu. But the Supreme Court adhered to what was said earlier and issued notices to the Central and Tamil Nadu government and refused to lift the ban. Even after this the Jallikattu event was held and hundreds of people were detained.

Due to these protests, on 21 January 2017, the governor of Tamil Nadu issued a new ordinance according to which the Jallikattu festival would be continued. On 23 January 2017 the Tamil Nadu legislature had also passed a bipartisan bill (A bipartisan bill is a bill that has the support of both the parties and this support comes through negotiation, give-and-take and compromise) with the agreement of the Prime Minister, thus exempting Jallikattu from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act,1960.

This tradition is an apt example of what has been stated in the beginning that how power suppresses the innocent and those who stand for the innocent are suppressed too. This also shows how we are unquestioningly following the traditions started many years ago and how we never understand that things need to change with time because change is inevitable. We need to change all the activities that are posing a threat to any animal or human, lets raise our voice together for what is right.