JOIN USChief Minister O Panneerselvam on Friday asserted that the state government is prepared to clear any legal hurdle to ensure the conduct of the bull-taming sport.
Assuring that the state would enact a new law after getting the go-ahead from President Pranab Mukherjee, Panneerselvam said Jallikattu would be conducted shortly.
“Our ordinance will ensure the conduct of Jallikattu, and I will personally inaugurate the sport,” the chief minister said.
After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who assured him of all support, he said he consulted legal experts and decided to bring in the ordinance.
Unfair to target us: PETA
Amid severe criticism from Jallikattu supporters in Tamil Nadu, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on Friday said it was unfair to target its ‘valid’ efforts on the issue.
PETA India’s legal counsel
P Sreenivasa said “attempts to condemn PETA India for working within its lawful right to help animals set India on a dangerous path toward becoming a land where laws don’t matter, putting every citizen’s rights and safety at risk”.
“PETA has lawfully supported a petition filed by the Animal Welfare Board of India. It is not the only NGO petitioner calling for the bulls to be protected. It means that all organisations or individuals working within their legal right to help animals, women, children, environment or any other vital causes in India are also at risk of harassment,” he said.
PETA’s statement came in the backdrop of Union Transport Minister Pon Radhakrishnan’s remarks that PETA is unnecessarily interfering in the culture of Tamil Nadu. “The highest court of our country has made it clear... bullfighting and bull races that harm bulls, and Jallikattu, which involves the deliberate terrifying of bulls to the point that they often break their bones, sometimes die or often injure or kill humans, is criminal,” he had said.