Kasargod police issue notice to Kambala organisers

Kasargod district police chief, acting on a complaint by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) India, issued notices to organisers on not to go ahead with 'Anna-Thamma' Jodukere Kambala being planned at Bolangala in Paivalike on Saturday.

When contacted, Kasargod District Police Chief A Srinivas informed DH, “Based on the complaint from PETA India, we have issued notices to organisers."

A source said that the organisers, who have been preparing for the event for a month, are unlikely to ignore the notice.

PETA India Lead Emergency Response Coordinator Meet Ashar, when contacted, informed DH that on being informed that a kambala (buffalo racing in slush field) event is scheduled to take place in Paivalike village, Kasaragod district, located 38 km from here, filed a complaint with police to prevent the 'illegal spectacle' from being organised as planned.

Ashar clarified that Kambalas are being conducted in undivided Dakshina Kannada district as it is not illegal under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Second Amendment) Act, 2017, which allows kambala and other bull and bullock cart races in the state. But on September 5, 2014, Kerala High Court had passed an order declaring that it is bound by the observations and views of the 2014 Supreme Court judgment that banned bull races across the country. The high court pointed out that the Supreme Court had categorically stated that bulls were not anatomically suited to racing. Thus under the Kerala High Court’s orders, the Kambala planned at Paivalike was illegal, he stressed.

Incidentally, PETA India has also opposed the ordinance implemented by Karnataka government and similar state laws that allow the use of bulls for 'Jallikattu' in Tamil Nadu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra. “Based on our petition, Supreme Court had referred the case to a Constitution bench and issued notices to the state government of Karnataka, Animal Welfare Board of India, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,” Ashar said.