Things are looking up for animals in India, thanks to Supreme Court for banning the cruel ritual, Jallikattu, in Tamil Nadu.
The apex court declared that the use of bulls in Jallikattu, an annual festival in which thousands of men chase the bulls to grab prizes tied to their horns, “severely” harms the animals and is punishable under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Animal activists have been longing to end this practice for years and were thrilled that the Court finally took notice.
An investigation in January 2013 authorised by Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) revealed: Cruelty to bulls starts even before Jallikattu begins; bulls were forced sway unnaturally side to side for hours; the tails were twisted and bitten by participants;
liquid, possibly alcohol, was force-fed to make them more aggressive; they were hit and prodded with sticks; the animals were deliberately poked with spears, knives and sickles in order to fluster them; irritants like chilli powder were forcibly rubbed into the bulls’ eyes and noses, and tails were twisted and broken.
Many participants pounced on lone bulls. Villagers beat bulls on the street and they ran panicked without adequate barriers, the terrified ones jump off roads and incurred mutilated ears, broken tailbones and other serious injuries. One bull died from a head-on collision with a moving passenger bus. Bulls had also charged on innocent onlookers and pierced them to death.
While the “cruel practice” is having 2000-3000 years of history and finds reference in ancient literature, Sati, child marriage, it was part of our culture too. Earlier, women never went to work. Tables are turned now. It is the idea of some villagers still tied to the vision that they have nothing else to be entertained with other than to run around farm animals and mess with their sanctity every year.
Something as debased and outdated as Jallikattu has come to define the Tamil culture. If this type of “tradition” is followed everywhere, atrocities against animals would become the accepted norm. Those who claim this as a martial sport should try taking on something that’s their equal rather than muddling around with dumb animals.
It is ill-advised to argue that Jallikattu should continue as long as animals are killed for food, as it is never fair to invoke negative logic that two wrongs make a right, if barbarism has to stop completely.
What kind of bravery is this? Who bears the loss of life – be it human or animal? According to AWBI, Jallikattu is “inherently cruel” to animals and a threat to people. The young men of those days were warriors trained in martial arts.
Women in those days married only those who were able to tame the bulls and show
their valour. In the different scenario of today, bulls are let loose one by one among a crowd of hundreds of youngsters, most of whom are there because of peer pressure. Bulls run through them like knife and butter.
Torture to animals
Is it fair to expose those young boys to a sport (?) which could maim or even kill them? Why put pressure on them to be like the heroes of yore? Culture is hard to stop, but it’s already 2016. Humans have attained this level of evolution that this doesn’t represent “manliness” anymore or rather a culture, but a torture to animals.
While the youth relish the adrenaline rush that the ‘sport’ appears to give them, it is, nevertheless, a dangerous sport. A sport that involves man and animal, are there any rules that govern it? In human sports, the contenders have a choice to participate or not in an event where they apprehend injury risk, whereas animals have no such choice. Therefore, it is impossible to hold Jallikattu without inflicting pain and cruelty on the bulls. There is no such thing as “benign Jallikattu”.
As the ‘sport’ is not held in the stadium, inevitably those taking part and those watching them are often injured as the bulls rush into the crowd. Some youths, angry at their disappointment of not winning a prize, resort to pelting stones at the bulls.
The controversial Jallikattu reportedly caused about 1,100 injuries and 17 deaths from 2010 to 2014. The authorities claim that although new safety measures are taken annually to prevent injuries, the number of injured continued to rise. “Jallikattu is only a sport for humans, not for the animals grievously injured” – echoes a loud and clear tweet.
The Tamil Nadu political parties are generating this controversy to gain obvious political mileage in the impending Assembly elections.
Though the Centre and the state government have argued that Jallikattu is intrinsic to the culture and tradition of Tamil Nadu and cannot be prohibited, the SC rightly viewed it from the animal rights angle. People’s sentiments may have to give way to the animals’ rights and safety.
Should tradition trump the rights and security of animals? Animals are not toys. They are sentient beings who, like us, require love and protection.