JOIN USEven as the Magh Bihu celebrations continued across Assam, all eyes were on Ahutguri, a small rural hamlet in Morigaon district of central Assam, 90 km from state capital Dispur, where annual buffalo fights are organised a day after Makar Sankranti.
With a ban on bull fight by the Supreme Court, there was an uncertainty looming large on whether the organisers of the historic traditional buffalo fight will go ahead.
The buffaloes did lock horns, not officially though, but the locals took the risk of disobeying the apex court order and organised a secret buffalo fight to keep age-old traditions alive and kept the media at bay, sources told Deccan Herald.
The local government administration also turned a blind eye, sources added.
For decades, traditional bull fights have been the main attraction of the Bhogali Bihu, the harvest festival of Assam. But some local buffalo keepers organised token matches where no less than 20 buffaloes locked horns, sources further added.
The Gauhati High Court had recently banned another traditional event of songbird (Bulbul) fight held in Hajo near Guwahati.