Animal Right Activists Decry Lifting Ban From Jallikattu, Jaya Thanks Modi
08 January, New Delhi
As the Centre has lifted a ban on Jallikattu (taming of bulls) and cattle races, many animal right groups Friday slammed the union government’s decision and vowed to fight the order in the Supreme Court.
Describing Jallikattu, which is celebrated in Tamil Nadu in month of January, an inseparable part of the culture, political parties of this southern state demanded the Centre to lift the ban from it.
However, the advocates of animal rights decried brutalities on the beast animals in the name of tradition. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Chief Executive Officer Poorva Joshipura termed the Centre’s decision ‘unconstitutional’ and said “lifting the protection against cruelty that was accorded to bulls is a black mark on our nation”.
She added that PETA will challenge the decision in the apex court in couple of days. Eyeing upcoming legislative assembly elections in the state at the end of the year, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha wrote a letter to the Central government to amend the related law in order to pave way for the Jallikattu. The Chief Minister also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after the notification was issued by Centre.
The decision was also hailed by BJP supporters in Chennai, who celebrated on streets in capital as soon as the news broke of resumption of the event. According to the fresh notification issued by the Environment Ministry, the Central government has lifted the ban on Jallikattu.
However, the bulls, fielded in the Jallikattu, would have to be confined to a perimeter of 15 meters. The notification also decriminalized the bull races, which are being organised in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Kerala. The new order also called for special tracks for cattle races, which should not exceed a prescribed limit of 2 kilometers. The permission to organise Jallikattu is given on the strict condition that no pain would be inflicted upon the animal during the event,
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told mediapersons. Jallikattu is an age-old game of southern India, which literal meaning is to tame bull. During the event, bulls are set free and youths are challenged to control them. It was banned by the previous Congress regime in 2011.