Apr 4, 2006

Jallikkattu Banned!!!


I wasn't surprised to read about the court ruling that bans the traditional bull baiting game 'Jallikkattu' of the Madurai and other southern neighboring districts.
I had lamented about the deterioration of this sport long ago in this post.

This is sad. The sport has a history of more than 3000 years and should have been preserved as a Heritage event.
 The state government had turned a deaf ear to repeated appeals by different forums and animal rights groups to reform the event to guarantee better safety standards.These groups took the issue to court as the last resort and earned a ban verdict.

Its a pity that a court had to intervene in an issue of tradition and culture.The right thing would have been the timely intervention of the state government to conduct the event in an organized and safe way. .

Hope better sense prevails and the ban is lifted soon...

(Images from google )

13 comments:

  1. Ashok,how to conduct jallikattu in a safe manner?

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  2. gopalan..u did not get the point.
    (most probably u have not witnessed the event.)
    Anyway let me clarify:

    1. There should be a clear demarcation between the spectators and participants. Every year more spectators are injured or killed than the actual participants.

    2. Govt can build a special arena for this purpose like in Spain. This will also avoid bulls accidentally running into onlookers. The galleries now built with bamboo or casuarina poles sometimes collapse to add more chaos.

    3. Spectators should have proper seating according to 'class'[free class to paid class] as it is in any sport stadium. Try to go and see the event with female members of your family to understand what I mean.

    4. Participants must properly register and shud have uniforms. Rest of the mad mob shud not be allowed access near the bulls. It is this mad mob that is the root cause of all trouble.

    5. The bulls must be checked by a veterinary team and certified that they are physically fit before the event. This will avoid using calfs , injured or sick bulls. Also this will avoid the mischievous practice of intoxicating the bulls that occasionally happen.

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  3. Spanish ppl dun complain. What is wrong with Madurai ppl?

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  4. its really a sweet news from High court. hope the injure and death will reduce by this order in future.

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  5. Yeah even I've only seen it in the movies. But its a part of our culture and shd be preserved.

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  6. y trouble the bulls? let them live in peace

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  7. I also welcome the HC judgement (maybe as a chennaiite I cannt understand the emotions). Justifications based on tradition and culture is not valid always as we as a society have and (have to) evolved,living in times of more human and animal rights awareness. Otherwise everything from Sati to untouchability can be justified just bcos they were tradition.

    Also on the valor part, I did think in those terms until seeing it is one bull against dozens of men joining and leaving the arena. It is inhuman practise and deserves to be stopped.

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  8. Worhipping cows is also our culture then. We dont follow that anymore. Our cows roam in streets and eat paper and plastic.
    Gladiators were there in ancient rome. It was barbaric . Is it possible to frame rules in way men and animals do not get hurt? If we encourage one such activity and label as sport then camel race (and tying kids on camels for the race )would also be a sport and legal.

    For me the definition of sport is a team playing against another for fun. There is no enemies involved.

    A duel or a war is between two opponents. This gets ugly sometimes - even a boxing match is too barbaric to watch.

    This bull fight falls in neither category.

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  9. I just see this as an expression of animal instincts in man... I have heard that the tails of the bulls are bitten... or the cows are fed with arrack to trun them violent..

    I also heard that in Spain the bulls are nails / have a belt around the neck with spikes that pierce thru their neck.. to turn them violent.. often the bulls loose coz they bleed so much and loose their strength and worst is the fact that they lose so much blood that they eventually die..

    if this is our tradition..I think we should abolish it... I think the court has passed atlest one meaningful verdict..

    I would be only happy if it upholds the ruling.. and not change due to some bloddy politics..

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  10. Thanks for the info Ashok.If we can conduct Jallikattu in a safe manner then it should continue.If it is barbaric then everyone in India should stop eating Non-veg.

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  11. Anonymous12:07 PM

    Court should completely ban this blooddy so called JALLIKATTU. What culture are we talking about ?

    LEaving an animal in a huge gathering and 40-50 idiots jumping over it and hurting it ?

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  12. Anonymous5:56 PM

    Jallikattu – The fight is now outside the ring

    Pongal, the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu is also the time for Jallikattu - the traditional bull fight that takes place in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Tanjore. Of these the spectacle at Alanganallur, near Madurai, is the most talked about simply because it is the most ferocious.

    Somehow, there's so much raw energy in the air at the time of Jallikattu. Even a casual visitor can feel the vibes and horror. Whole villages come to a stand-still at the time of this traditional bull fight. It is considered 'veera velayattu', the game of the brave and indeed the game does take immense bravery - to tame a wild bull called the 'Jallikatu Kalai'.

    The game involves taming the bull, by locking its horns and getting it to stand still for a short while. The person, who does so, gets the purse or whatever gift the brave one is destined to receive.

    Today, there is a huge hue and cry to ban this traditional sport that animal rights activists have branded a vile blood sport. True, not only do the bulls that enter the Jallikattu ring suffer a blood bath, some of the participants, often little children do end up in hospital and often in the morgue. So they say there’s no reason why the sport should be banned forthwith.

    What is your opinion? Vote here to RUN or BAN – http://www.jallikatu.com

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  13. Sathick6:42 AM

    ஜல்லிக்கட்டுக்கு தடை : அயல் நாட்டு சதி வேலை தான் இது.உயர் ரக மாட்டு இனங்களை அழிக்க.இவர்களின் சதிசெயல் தான் இந்த ஜல்லிக்கட்டு தடை.ஜல்லிக்கட்டு நடத்தபடடுவதன் காரணாமாக பல உயர் ரக மாட்டு இனங்கள் தமிழ்நாட்டில் பாதுகாத்து வளர்த்துவருகின்றனர்.இதனால் நாம் மாடுகள் கரருத்தரிப்பு பெரும்பாலும் இயற்கை முறயிலேயே நடத்தபடுகின்றன.சினை ஊசிகளை விற்க முடியயாத காரணத்தாலும்.எதிர் காளத்தில் அவர்களைவிட தரமான சினை ஊசிகளை நாம் ஏற்றூமதி செய்யகூடும் என்ற அச்சத்தாலும கார்பரேட் கம்பெனிகளால மறைமுகமாக நடத்தப்படும் சதிச்செயல்தான் ஜல்லிக்கட்டு தடை.

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