‘Jallikattu’ organisers and people from 15 villages in the district, mostly in Natham constituency, have decided to boycott the Assembly poll in protest against the “inability of political parties to obtain permission to conduct ‘jallikattu.’
Two members from each village came to the Collectorate here on Monday and threatened to surrender their voter identity cards. Addressing a gathering, ‘Tamil Veera Vilaiyattu Meetppu Kuzhu’ chief coordinator T. Rajesh said that the political parties should assure in their manifestoes that they would get permission to organise rural sports such as ‘jallikattu,’ ‘manju virattu,’ ‘rekla’ race and cock fight. They should also assure to get political recognition for these sports as they formed part of temple rituals.
“We conducted meetings of village heads in southern districts and decided to wait till April 21 for political parties to announce their decision. If they failed to respond to our plea, we will not only boycott the polls but also field our candidates in three constituencies,” he said.
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‘Jallikattu’ and other sports were being held by villagers during temple festivals for the past several centuries in southern districts.
The temple festivals could not be organised at several villages owing to the ban on ‘jallikattu.’ Village heads and organisers of ‘jallikattu’ and ‘rekla’ race in Pugaiyilaipatti, Nathamadipatti, Pillamanaickenpatti, Thavasimadai and other villages that had been conducting ‘jallikatu’ thronged the Collectorate. The officials expressed their inability to take a decision during election. Later, they dispersed.