Farmer leaders in Tamil Nadu lambasted the practice of Jallikattu as the number of deaths has shot up to five in this year’s bull taming event which began last Sunday.
M Jeeva, a 45-yer-old person was gored to death by Jallikattu bulls on Wednesday in Pudukottai district. Though the district administration had deployed ambulances and para medical staff at the venue, they could not save the life of Jeeva, who was one of the spectators. More than 200 persons, most of them spectators, have been injured since last Sunday in Jallikattu events.
All the persons who lost their lives since the beginning of the 2018 Jallikattu events were gored to death in a gruesome manner by bulls which were unleashed to the arena from a narrow passage known in local parlance as Vaadivaasal.
Eighty persons, were injured, some of them seriously, in Jallikattu events held in Ttirchirappalli and Ariyalloor districts in Thursday. It has been reported that the Jallikattu event n Ariyalloor district was held without permission. The Animal Welfare Board of India, entrusted with the monitoring of the bull taming sports remained incommunicado even after the death of five persons across the State.
The observers who were deputed by the Board to supervise were called back from the venues without giving any reason. Though R B Chaudhary, who was the AWBI's press and media head, declined to comment on the Jallikattu deaths stating that he had retired from service on December 31, 2017, he is continuing issuing press statements for the Board even now.
But farming leaders on Friday questioned the legality of this “cruel sporting event” which is claiming the lives of people and animals on a daily basis.
“The supporters of Jallikattu claim it is an age-old ritual and custom. But they are all against the age-old Vedas and Divyaprabhandams (sacred songs written by Sages in praise of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva, This is sheer hypocrisy. The game of Jallikattu should be banned immediately,” a senior office bearer of the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Association told The Pioneer. He wanted his name not to be quoted as Tamil chauvinist forces are selectively targeting those speaking against Jallikattu.
The farmer leader from Cauvery Delta Districts pointed out that the Dravidian politicians ridicule persons reciting Vedas and visiting temples as conservatives and fundamentalists. “But these same people claim that Jallikattu is a custom which has been in practice for thousands of years,” he said.
All animal lovers and activists in the State declined to comment openly about the deaths due to Jallikattu. A prominent animal right activist in Chennai, who was the face of animal protection activities in Tamil Nadu, was forced to leave the State because of her uncompromising stance against Jallikattu and other kind of cruelties on animals.
R V Giri, president, Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA), reminded the government of Tamil Nadu that the Jallikattu practiced in the State was not in synch with modern times. “This is an event detrimental to both man and animals. We have to discontinue this practice at the earliest. I am shocked to see that politicians who make hue and cry over suicides of farmers or students look the other way when this sport claims human and animal lives regularly,” said Giri.