Jallikattu Protest

What is Jallikattu ?• A traditional bull-taming sport organised in Tamil

Nadu during the Festival of Pongal. Also known as Manju virattu, the word Jallikattu means a package of Coins and it is derived from the term Cali Kaku (Coins) and Kattu (A package). The packages of coins are tied to the horns of the bulls as the prize money.

• The sport calls for participation of young participants and it involves natively reared stud. The challenge lies in taming the bull with bare hands. The participants try to grab the bull by its horns or tail and wrestle it into submission.

Why Supreme Court Banned “Jallikattu”?

• An Activist raised concerns about Jallikattu and said the Jallikattu amounted to cruelty to animal besides posing a threat to humans. Between 2010 and 2014, an estimated 1,100 people were injured and 17 people died in the Jallikattu event.

• In the past two decades, over 200 people have died from the Jallikattu sport.

• In 2014, Supreme Court banned the sport and said, “Use of bulls in such events severely harms the animals and constitutes an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to the Animals Act.”

Why Jallikattu became a controversy ?

• In the year 2011, during the rule of UPA government, The Environment Ministry added bulls to its 1991 notification banning the training and exhibition of bears, monkeys, tigers, panthers and dogs. The notification was challenged in the Supreme Court and upheld in 2014. Under the government of NDA, the ministry modified its earlier notification in 2016 and declared that the sport could continue despite the existing ban.

Supporters• With the pro-Jallikattu protest by students at

Marina Beach and other spots throughout the state turning into a mass movement, everybody including the film stars is looking to ride the wave.

• On 19 January, the film workers’ union, the directors’ union, producers’ council and the powerful Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) cancelled shoots across Tamil Nadu.

• All the top stars Like Kamal Hassan, Rajinikanth, Vijay, Suriya, Nayanthara, Ajith and Trisha, in addition to hundred other artists and cricketer R. Ashwin, are likely to participate in the protest of Jallikattu.

• O. Pannerselvam met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi with a plea to promulgate an ordinance to allow the rural bull sport to be held. But the Prime Minister (PMO) said that while he appreciates the cultural significance of Jallikattu, the matter was sub-judice. The Centre, however, would be supportive of steps taken by the state government, the PMO added.

• On 20th January, in the morning, Chief Minister O. Pannerselvam said that Jallikattu, the ancient bull-taming festival, will return to Tamil Nadu in a couple of days through an executive order that he sent for the President’s approval. He has urged the thousands of people gathered at Chennai’s Marina Beach for four days now, to end their protest.

• The Protesters at Marina Beach – The Professionals and Students, men and women – said that they will not leave Marina Beach until the order to remove a ban from Jallikattu is issued.

A.R. Rahman’s tweet