Citing the threat posed by the Omicron variant of Covid-19, a group of doctors from across the country have written to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin demanding that his government refuse permission for jallikattu (bull-taming festival) in the state during Pongal celebrations in January 2022.
The letter written by the doctors from across the country was released to the media by PETA, an organisation that fights for animal rights. Jallikattu, the traditional bull-taming festival, is conducted in several places in southern Tamil Nadu during the Pongal festivities in mid-January.
However, the festival was banned following which huge protests erupted in the state prompting the then AIADMK government to bring a state-specific amendment in 2017 to lift the ban. The jallikattu events in Alanganallur, Palamedu, and Avaniyapuram attract visitors from across the globe – in 2021, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited Avaniyapuram to watch the event.
The doctors said allowing mass gatherings of hundreds or thousands of people at jallikattu events during a pandemic – especially given the new threat presented by Omicron (B.1.1.529) and the ongoing concern over Delta variants (B.1.617.2 and AY.4.2) – poses a considerable risk to public health and could increase demands on India’s health-care system.
"This is especially so considering that over 100 million Indians reportedly missed the second dose of their vaccine,” the doctors said, quoting a recent UK study that showed that immunity against Covid-19 is waning quickly – even among those administered with both doses of Covishield.
They told the Chief Minister and Health Minister Ma Subramanian that Karnataka had in 2021 disallowed a bull-taming event similar to jallikattu called Hori Bedarisuva Sparde because of concerns over Covid-19.
They also said recommendations by healthcare professionals for the cancellation of the 2021 jallikattu events were ignored, and it can be reasonably assumed that an “indeterminable number of people became ill with Covid-19 at these events.”
“In light of the highly contagious nature of the disease and the way participants and spectators inevitably come into close proximity at such mass gatherings, despite any precautions planned by the Tamil Nadu government and the ongoing vaccination efforts, the risk of infection remains high,” the doctors said.
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