Chennai: A ban on a bull-taming festival, which has been blighted by allegations that the beasts are doped with liquor and then taunted with chilli powder, triggered street protests in southern India on Wednesday.
Demonstrators, mostly students, thronged the busy Marina Beach area in the city of Chennai to demand the lifting of the ban on the traditional Jallikattu event which is held during the winter harvest festival.
“We are protesting against the ban and demand that it should be immediately lifted. We are here in support of preserving the culture of Tamils,” Selva Kumar, a student leader at the protest site, told AFP.
The protesters in Chennai, who began gathering on Tuesday night, say they will camp out until the authorities announce that the event will be allowed in future.
Faced with mounting anger on the streets, the top brass of the state government got into a huddle as Chief Minister O Panneerselvam decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow seeking an ordinance for conduct of the age-old sport. He will be accompanied by 51 MPs of AIADMK.
He appealed to the students to give up their protests even as IT sector employees and several more actors joined the chorus for allowing ‘jallikattu’.
India’s Supreme Court outlawed Jallilkatu last year after a plea by animal rights groups which have long argued that the event — held every year in different parts of Tamil Nadu state — is cruel.
Unlike in traditional Spanish bullfighting, the animals are let loose into open fields and young men then compete to subdue them bare-handed.
Critics say organisers lace the bulls’ feed with liquor to make them less steady on their feet and chuck chilli powder into their faces to throw them into a sudden frenzy as they are released from a holding pen.
The rights group PETA has released footage it says shows bull farmers doping their animals ahead of the event.
But organisers of the festival insist the animals suffer no harm and Jallilkatu is an established part of Tamil culture.
Tensions have been escalating for the last week after hundreds of people were detained by police for allegedly organising local Jallikatu contests in defiance of the court ban.
Police say the protests have remained peaceful so far but have spread to large parts of the state.
Several popular Tamil film stars have voiced their support for the demonstrators as has India’s leading spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
Opposition and ruling parties in the state have also criticised the ban and want Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to have it overturned.
A government led by Modi’s predecessor did order a ban in 2011 but it was effectively ignored until last year’s Supreme Court ruling.
More film personalities, including actors Vishal, comedian Vivek and Sivakarthikeyan today expressed support for ‘jallikattu’. Actors’ body South Indian Artistes’ Association announced a hunger strike on January 20 on the issue.
Talks by State Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar and School Education Minister K. Pandiarajan followed by senior police officials failed to dissuade the protesters on Marina beach here who insisted that the Chief Minister visit the site and give an assurance that the sport would be allowed.
Protests were held and rallies taken out in several districts including Chennai, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur, Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga, Theni, Thanjavur, Salem, Erode, Karur, Dharmapuri and Kanyakumari.
