: Jana Sena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan tweeted on Friday that the ban sought to be imposed on Jallikattu amounted to an attack on Dravidian culture and its integrity. He expressed a similar view on the curbs put in place against cockfights.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan stated that he observed the sense of ‘deep hurt’ over the ban (on Jallikattu and cockfights) in the people of “Dakshin Bharat” during the shooting of a film at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu and political interactions in Andhra Pradesh.
He argued that if the ban on grounds of cruelty to animals was to be considered a puritanical approach, the statistics of Indian beef exports and poultry industry were to be examined.
Mr. Pawan Kalyan pointed out that the top beef exporting firms in India are owned by Hindus and not Muslims, and wondered how the large-scale slaughtering of cows, calves and buffaloes does not attract attention from the perspective of ‘animal cruelty’.
