This is a blog post from
The ethical treatment of animals is a highly complex and subjective issue. What yardstick do we use to measure animal cruelty? What is sheer cruelty to a vegan is a source of livelihood for a farmer and a butcher. But again, if purpose/function is used as a measure to justify the suffering/pain of the animal, the case for jallikattu indeed appears weak. The very design of the sport has aggression built into it.
Earu Thazhuvuthal is an inappropriate name for jallikattu because while notions of love, compassion, brotherhood, and gratitude that the thought of an embrace ( thazhuvuthal in Tamil) evokes may exist between the farmer and the bull in the house and the farm, these qualities don’t have any place in the jallikattu arena: you won’t be overflowing with love for an animal when you are aware that it could gore you to death if you aren't careful. And when your pride and machismo are at stake as an alpha male, welfare of a four-legged creature isn't exactly your priority.
While it is true that incidents of cruelty towards animals have drastically come down after the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act (TNRJ) of 2009, such practices do continue to exist even to this day. And such practices are not the exception but the norm. Please ask any jallikattu veteran to provide an honest graphic description of the event before 2009 and he would tell you the inhumane nature of the sport that existed pre-2009. Even after 2009, the enforcement of rules continues to be shaky given the clout of the cattle owners and organisers and the scant respect for the rule of law and the inability of the State to enforce it in its letter and spirit in an event of such nature and magnitude.
I can go on and on about this. The loss of human life, the barbarity in the name of valour, the retribution on a losing animal, jallikattu serving as yet another opportunity for caste-related violence, etc, etc.
It's our culture!
Jallikattu is a facet of the culture of around 20 out of the thousands of villages in Tamil Nadu. The current agitation — at least a large portion of the protesters who are a part of it — projects jallikattu to be the most important aspect of Tamil cultural identity, which by no means it is.
Let us not blow it out of proportion. There is a lot to cherish and celebrate in our culture. We cannot hide from rationality and rational debate in the name of culture. In the north, dowry, khap panchayats, child marriage, animal sacrifice, dacoity and poaching — in the name of heritage and hereditary profession — and many such evils are being fought against. All these are entrenched culturally. Abusing dalits and women also has cultural roots. But we term these as social evils and do not glorify them culturally.
Now please don’t come after me saying that I’m equating jallikattu with the above. We as a society need to pause for a moment and discuss what can and cannot be allowed in the name of culture and what criteria we must adopt to decide. We must also be aware that culture is not static, but in a constant state of flux. This, along with a better understanding of what we call culture, will better help us celebrate all that is truly worth cherishing.
We deserve sympathy!
Arguments such as the ability of PETA to afford highly-paid lawyers while the government-appointed lawyers are good for nothing is just an attempt to play the victim card. The 2014 case on the government’s side was argued by Mukul Rohatgi, one of our most accomplished and famous lawyer. Others are running a campaign and can be economical with the truth. It is our responsibility to get our facts straight.
What will happen to our native breeds?
I just came to know that cattle breeds are of three kinds.
- Milch breeds: cattle that is reared mainly for milk
- Draught breeds: mainly used to pull loads and work in fields
- Dual-purpose breeds: self-explanatory
India had 13o+ breeds of cattle, out of which 37 exist today. Out of these 37, Tamil Nadu has around 7 (different sources give different numbers) breeds that are native to it. Out of these, jallikattu predominantly uses only two breeds: Puliyakulam and Umbalacherri — the other breeds, like Kangeyam kaalai, are not used contrary to popular perception. It is to be noted that both of them are primarily draught breeds.
My question here is that while jallikattu may be a justification for the preservation of these two breeds, what is one doing for the rest? The argument is not to oppose jallikattu for its failure to protect and preserve all native breeds. I have to agree that it has a role. But the role is limited to these two breeds. What about the rest? Projecting the blood sport as the saviour that will protect all breeds is a dangerous over-simplification that belittles the native-cattle conservation agenda.
There's an age-old science to it!
There is some merit in the argument, so let me explore this in detail. I spoke to Saravanan Chandrasekeran , a Managing Trustee at wildlife NGO Wild Wing Trust, on this issue and his explanation is as follows. In the jallikattu event held at Thammampatti in Salem, which he’s been to many times, calves as young as 1-1.5 years old are made to run with the bulls in a controlled environment. Nobody catches or harms these calves. The purpose is to get them used to the jallikattu environment: a kind of heats before an athletic competition where the ability of an athlete is estimated.
Calves that show promise are groomed as jallikattu kaalai s and mating bulls while the other animals are castrated soon after and used as draught animals. Such selective breeding results in healthy offspring as the calves from the semen of such healthy animals are more likely to be sturdy. So far so good! This is a strong argument but I’d like to plead that there are other means available these days to check for the virility and the strength of a mating bull.
Moreover, breeds like the majestic Kangeyem Kaalai are not anatomically suitable for jallikattu. These animals are inspected for their height, the size of the hump, the length and shape of the horns, the athleticism in their gait, and other such features. So, methods are indeed available that are effective yet simple to choose animals for selective breeding. Jallikattu is by no means an indispensable method for ascertaining strength and stamina.
The whole thing is a corporate-driven conspiracy!
The argument that big corporate houses are behind PETA and are indirectly acting to destroy native cattle breeds is as simplistic as it is dangerous. As mentioned earlier, the two breeds in jallikattu are primarily draught breeds. Why is a dairy company targeting two draught breeds while ignoring others, especially the milch breeds? If our concern is that semen from individual species might be patented, let us get the government to do the following:
- Enhance funds for research for native cattle breeds
- Create better semen collection and distribution facilities
- Get GI or equivalent certification for native cattle so that no one can dangle a patent in front of us in future and asks us to pay them to use the breeds that our ancestors developed
- Most importantly, revive and promote native agricultural practices where the animal is an integral part of the farming cycle. This will not only help conserve these breeds, but also go a long way in preserving soil fertility
We have tasted victories like snubbing pharma companies when they objected to low-cost cancer medicines citing patent rights and rejecting the patent on neem. How do you expect a so-called cultural sport to accomplish what necessarily needs to be done by regulatory and legislative actions? Protesting for jallikattu or humming takaru takaru will not solve all problems. Taking the politicians and authorities to task will.
Another rumour that is spreading is that all the breeds’ sperm will be patented. Please, please understand how patenting works. A patent is issued only for an innovation. You cannot draw semen from a bull of an existing breed and go patent it. Although, if a company develops a new breed, then its semen can be patented. Moreover, a majority of patents in the dairy industry are for things like devices to store semen, new solutions with with semen is mixed, etc.
A1 milk causes cancer, A2 milk is more healthy
The research on this is inconclusive. Even if we take this to be true, what is stopping you and me from consuming A2 milk from our indigenous breeds (the rumour that all Indian cattle give A2 milk and all European cattle give A1 milk is also false)? The truth is that the indigenous species are low on yield and are unsuitable for mechanised dairy farming — the investment is not worth the output economically.
If we really want to help the promotion of native breeds, we need to expand market access for products like A2 milk and desi cow ghee. But please understand that the supposed utopia of all indigenous cattle replacing exotic cattle will be an economic and ecological disaster. If we want to meet the demand for milk in a country like India purely through indigenous breeds, we would need at least 2-3 times the number of cows than what we have now.
Imagine the stress it will have on the farmer in terms of maintenance, on the poromboke and forest grasslands land due to overgrazing, and global warming to the increase in methane emission from dung.
Do you even care for people’s sentiments? Thousands are part of the protest!
The fact that something is supported by the majority doesn’t automatically make it right. I respect and uphold the right of pro-jallikattu supporters who are protesting right now. But I want to ask them why. I want to know if they are on the streets swayed by reason or by mere propaganda.
If jallikattu supporters call attention to their feelings and emotions, what about the feelings of animal lovers and animal-rights activists? What about the feelings of those parents who have lost their children to this cruel sport? What about the pain of the animals?
A few confessions:
- I am not a farmer and know next to nothing about farming.
- I was never allowed to have a pet, but I played with the pets of others.
- I’m not a jallikattu expert, my knowledge of cattle rearing is pathetic.
- I have never seen a jallikattu bull, except on TV. I have only had it described to me by people who have.
Therefore it is obvious that there will be plenty of gaps in my knowledge. I request all those interested in the issue and willing to engage in a discussion to fill those gaps. Having said that, I am open to instruction from farmers and experts. Let them educate me. Let knowledge grow. By that measure, a majority of the people who support jallikattu don’t have PhDs in these topics either. When we engage in a debate, we learn from each other. That is why it is important not to belittle the person engaging in a debate or assume that they come with bad intentions. Let us all collectively learn and grow. Rather than focusing on the person, let us focus on the argument objectively and evaluate it. If we engage in a debate with this spirit, nobody will lose or feel hurt.
I look at this issue in a spirit of collective rational inquiry and debate. So I am going to take each argument — including mine — at its face value and evaluate its merit. I am open to changing my position, even reversing it, if new and convincing evidences/arguments are presented.
We need not feel small if what we believe doesn't stand logical scrutiny. In any debate which is genuinely a collective pursuit of the truth, every participant is a winner, no matter what one’s initial position might be. So ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, let us talk, discuss, debate, analyse, think, question, agree, disagree, agree to disagree, disagree to agree. Let us all play that jallikattu where the bull of passion is tamed by reason. No PETA can ban it, women can also play, neither animals nor humans will be harmed. And above all, that will be a sport where every one will emerge a winner.
