Bull-rearers, tamers demand lifting of ban on Jallikattu

A day after the Supreme Court refused to lift the ban on Jallikattu, bull-tamers and bull-rearers took to streets here on Thursday seeking the State and Central Governments to bring in a legislation to facilitate the conduct of Jallikattu during Pongal in January 2017.

Youths from various parts of the district gathered near the Collectorate for a demonstration protesting against the organisations that were working against the conduct of the rural sport event.

With the ban on Jallikattu continuing for two years, many bull-rearers had given up their animals as they lost hope of the sport being revived, said B. Prakash (33), a bull-rearer.

Many of the rearers had given their animals to slaughterhouses in the city and Kerala.

“We need Jallikattu at least to protect native breeds of cattle in the country. Only after we started importing hybrid cows and consuming its milk, the Indian population is increasingly affected with diabetes. Besides, the milk from imported cows is the cause for several other health issues among girls and females,” he charged.

Meanwhile, the city police arrested handful of youths who attempted to stage a protest in Avaniapuram.

“This is a traditional sport which had been going on for ages. Even the British rulers did not disturb it. But, now some small organisations were disrupting the event,” said J. Pandiarajan, a bull-tamer.

The youths said their only hope was an amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to remove bulls from the list of performing animals.

“If this time too the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre hoodwinks us, we are ready to conduct Jallikattu defying the ban order,” said Mr. Prakash.