Jallikattu

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Jallikattu

With animal rights activists at the head of the

campaign against jallikattu, more attention

seems to have been paid to cruelty to the

bulls than the inherently dangerous nature of the bull­

taming event, that puts both spectators and partici­

pants at risk. Two onlookers have died in the space of

two days in the jallikattu events in Palamedu and Avaa­

rangadu in Tamil Nadu as the barricades separating the

spectators from the arena were inadequate. Two others

were killed in the  manjuvirattu (a variant of jallikattu) at

Siravayal when the bulls were unleashed outside the

earmarked arena, a violation of due procedure. Clearly,

the safety arrangements monitored by the district ad­

ministration at these annual events in the Pongal sea­

son failed to prevent death and injury. With some of the

events inducting more than 400 bulls and almost twice

as many tamers, jallikattu has become a disorderly

spectacle, making a mockery of even well­laid­out

plans. The Animal Welfare Board of India, which was

earlier in the forefront of documenting instances of

mismanagement in the organising of jallikattu events,

seems to have shifted its stance with a change of oce­

bearers. Other than spotting some “small mistakes”

and “human errors”, the AWBI team’s convener, S.K.

Mittal, found little amiss in the Palamedu event. The

concern, instead, was on preserving “native breeds” of

bulls. After last year’s protests against the Supreme

Court ban on jallikattu, when thousands of people gath­

ered in public places in Tamil Nadu demanding a reviv­

al of the sport, the authorities have been wary of con­

demning bull­taming during Pongal. They now speak

the language of custom and tradition, one that is similar

to that of the jallikattu enthusiasts.

When the Supreme Court banned jallikattu on the

basis of submissions made by the AWBI, which record­

ed instances of cruelty to animals in regulated events, it

did so on the ground that regulations were not working.

Following public protests and political pressure, and on

the strength of hurriedly drafted legislation, jallikattu is

now back on the Pongal calendar. But nothing much

has changed on the ground. Of course, participants and

bulls are screened before being allowed into the arena.

But the bulls do not heed the barricades that are meant

to fence o spectators from the arena. Also, there is the

risk of hyper­excited miscreants releasing the bulls out­

side the arena: this is what happened in Siravayal. Dis­

trict authorities have so far failed to nd better ways to

regulate the events, but more than the size of an event,

the scale is the challenge. In short, there are too many

events in too many places within a period of a few days,

making regulation next to impossible. It is one thing to

have well­regulated jallikattu. But we are far from stag­

ing it in a manner that leaves nothing to chance and that

is insured against damage wreaked by a rampaging bull.