The Central may have approved Tamil Nadu government’s Ordinance to allow the conduct of Jallikattu, but protesters are in no mood to back down from their demand. Demonstrators gathered in large numbers at the Marina Beach today demanding the holding of the sport and banning the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
They said that the state and Central government's decision to bring out an Ordinance to allow Jallikattu is just a ‘stop-gap arrangement’ and they need a permanent solution.
The main centre of protest on the Marina is opposite the Vivekananda House where large number of protestors were gathered and were addressed by several speakers. The speakers spoke about farming, Tamil pride, culture and also against cola drinks, fairness cream, multi-national companies that are now into farm products in India.
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Attempts to bring in an effigy to be burnt as a mark of protest was stopped upfront by other protestors as it would negate the hard protest of the past five days. There were sand art depicting a raging bull and a man hugging its hump. Street play groups staged their plays and there was a drummer wearing a contraption on his head with burning fire signifying that Jallikattu is the burning problem in the state.
A few metres away from the main protest gathering, several groups shouted slogans for Jallikattu and against colas and politicians.
"I am actually happy with the protest. For the past two years I have been talking about such a movement and it is finally happening. Though I am a politician and politicians have been kept out by the protestors, it is a good beginning," former Union Minister and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss said.
Officials in New Delhi said that the proposal of the Tamil Nadu government was cleared by the Ministries of Home, Law and Environment without recommending any changes. In the state government’s draft Ordinance, bulls will be denotified from the list of ‘performing animals’ in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
The Ordinance is now pending before President Pranab Mukherjee. According to reports, the President is most likely to give his assent by today evening.
Once the Ordinance gets President’s nod, the Tamil Nadu Cabinet will meet to promulgate it and recommend it to the Governor Vidyasagar Rao for his approval. Rao, who is also Governor of Maharashtra, is reaching Chennai today.
The Supreme Court had in May 2014 banned Jallikattu, saying that bulls cannot be used as performing animals including bullock-cart races. Since then, people have been urging the central government to take steps to allow the sport. The common complaint among the protest leaders was that the Supreme Court had insulted Tamil culture by disallowing the traditional sport observed during the harvest festival of Pongal.
In Jallikattu, a bull vaulter is expected to hang on to the animal's hump for a stipulated distance or hold on to the hump for a minimum of three jumps made by the bull. The sport is traditionally held as part of the four-day Pongal festival in the state.
