With the protests against the ban on jallikattu continuing in Madurai district, there were also instances of the bull taming sport being conducted on a smaller scale and bulls being let loose in many places in the district in defiance of the ban on Sunday.
Large number of people, predominantly locals and small groups of youngsters from nearby regions, began gathering near the arena in Palamedu, where jallikattu was traditionally being held a day after Pongal. Black flags had been hoisted across the village and shops were shut as a mark of protest.
The gathered people also occasionally indulged in sloganeering, condemning the ban on the sport and terming it as an attack on Tamil culture.
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Meanwhile, a group of villagers were provided permission by the police for bringing six bulls associated with the temples in the village near the arena just to conduct a puja as per traditions.
Despite the deployment of huge posse of police, with police personnel even escorting the six bulls, the bulls were let loose one after the other by the local youngsters. The bulls ran for few hundred meters in the arena with the youngsters running behind them and the police witnessing helplessly.
Later, speaking to
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He emphasized that the incident could not be termed jallikattu as the bulls were not let out through vaadi vasal (the narrow entry through which bulls are generally let out during the sport) and no one really attempted to catch or tame the bulls.
He said that security arrangements will also be strengthened in Alanganallur, where similar protests are expected on Monday, to ensure that the Supreme Court’s ban on the sport is not violated.
Apart from the protests in Palamedu, jallikattu was also conducted on a small scale in at least three places in the district.
Around 20 bulls were used in the jallikattu conducted in a dried-up tank near S. Alangulam in Madurai, while the sport was conducted with three bulls in a barren farmland near Vilangudi. There were also reports of the sport being conducted in a dried-up water body near Palanganatham.
PTI adds:
Amid protests against the ban on Jallikattu, police on Sunday detained several people at various places in some southern districts for attempting to organise the bull taming sport.
Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.
Shops at several localities remained closed and black flags were also hoisted at Alanganallur.
Both Palamedu and Alanganallur are famous for Jallikattu in Madurai district.
A police officer said they were maintaining strict vigil in such localities.
Police stations have been alerted to prevent any attempt to hold Jallikattu, the officer added.
The die-hard supporters of the sport along with major political parties in the State have been demanding an ordinance for conducting Jallikattu after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on it.
On Saturday, 149 persons were detained in Madurai district for staging protests against the ban.
The Supreme Court on january 12 said it could not give its verdict on Jallikattu before Pongal.
DMK Working President M.K. Stalin had led a protest in Chennai on Friday in this regard.