In a setback to the attempts to revive the traditional tonga race organised annually in the Nagaur district, the Rajasthan High Court has dismissed the State government’s petition seeking modification of its January 2016 order banning the controversial practice. The clamour for re-starting the tonga race has grown in the Jat-dominated Nagaur region on the pretext of public sentiments.
Following the demand raised by several MLAs, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had recently promised to find a “positive solution” to the issue, while the political leadership and administrative machinery launched an exercise to get a legal way out to restart the horse-cart run. The HC had outlawed the race citing cruelty to animals.
Hanuman Beniwal, independent MLA from Khinvsar, had even demanded that the State government adopt the ordinance route, taking cue from Tamil Nadu legislation for the jallikattu. Jat leaders of the region, which is a hotbed of politics in Rajasthan, have maintained the race is a matter of people's faith and religious tradition and it does not have any trait of cruelty to animals.
Every year, on the 9th of Shukla day of Bhadrapada month as per the Hindu calendar, horse-carts run for 36 km on hard concrete or tarred road on the Mundiad-Kharnal-Nagaur route in Nagaur district. The race forms part of fairs dedicated to Lord Ganesha and Lord Tejaji, with the tongas running amid the chaos of heavy traffic and with thousands of spectators shouting on the roadside.
A Division Bench headed by Justice Govind Mathur at the High Court's principal seat in Jodhpur dismissed the modification application on Wednesday, saying there were no grounds on which the earlier order could be modified. The court held that no material was made available to establish anything contrary to the findings of experts about cruelty to horses during the tonga race.
The last race took place at Mundiad in 2014, as the High Court’s direction came shortly after the Supreme Court's ban on jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. The Court also took into account a study report submitted by the Animal Welfare Board of India and directed the State authorities to ensure well-being of animals and adhere to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.