Jallikattu. Image for representation.
Credit: PTI Photo
Guwahati: The BJP-led government in Assam on Sunday decided to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 to allow the traditional buffalo fight organised during Bhogali Bihu celebrations in January every year.
Informing this, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that the state cabinet on Sunday approved the proposal for amending the 1960 act remove buffallos from the purview of the Act.
"Gauhati High Court had reinstated the prohibition on buffalo fight as buffalos are protected under the act. The Supreme Court had similarly banned the bullock fight in Jallukattu in Tamil Nadu but later revoked the order after Tamil Nadu government amended the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. Today, the Cabinet took a decision to similarly amend the Act so that the traditional buffallo fight can be continued in Assam like the bullock fight in Jallikattu," Sarma said.
The Amendment Bill is likely to be presented in the Assembly on November 25, when the winter session of the House begins.
Buffalo fights are organised at Ahotguri in Morigaon district and several other places as part of celebrations of the Bhogali Bihu in January every year. But the fight had to be discontinued after PETA India submitted a petition in Guwahati High Court, which last year issued a order prohibiting the traditional practice.
The PETA India alleged that buffallos are subjected to physical torture and abuse during the traditional fight, which violates the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960. The state government later enforced a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for organising the buffalo fight but those were also struck down by the High Court.
The decision was taken ahead of Assembly elections slated early next year.