Jallikattu: Tamil Nadu stands united in an effort to overturn ban

Transporters, retailers, film fraternity, movie theatres shut shop, doctors lawyers support stir

What started as a protest by a group of people in Madurai five days ago is now turning to be one of the biggest apolitical movements Tamil Nadu has ever seen in its history.

On Friday, normal life across the state was hit as transporters, retail shopkeepers, film fraternity and movie theatre owners decided to shut shop for 12 hours, starting 6 am. 

The move marked their support for students and youngsters protesting against the ban on Jallikattu, the bull taming sport held every January during the traditional festival of Pongal. The protesters also want a ban on animal rights group PETA.

The protest took new shape on Thursday, after a meeting between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi this morning failed to elicit any positive response. While Modi lent his ears to what the protestors conveyed through the chief minister, he refused to take immediate action, stating that the matter is subjudice. The protestors want the central government to bring in an ordinance to pave way for the smooth execution of Jallikattu or an amendment to the notification issued on July 11, 2011, to exempt Jallikattu from the restrictions.

While Panneerselvam stated that the state and the Centre would work together to make it possible to perform Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and stayed back in Delhi to work out an option to solve the matter legally, more people started joining the protest in Chennai and other places. In some parts of the state, people blocked railway lines affecting the movement of trains for several hours. Roads were also blocked in some places.

However, several shops are still open despite the call by the trader's organisation for a 12-hour shut down in solidarity with the protesters. A M Vikramaraja, president, Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peramaipu, the organisation of retailers in the state, said that around 2.1 million shops will down shutters from dawn to dusk. The Lorry Owners organisation said it will stop the movement of around 5,00,000 trucks in the state on Friday in support of the protest. 

Autorickshaw- and taxi-drivers in some parts of the state have also said they will not hit the roads on Friday. However, taxis and autorickshaws in the state capital will operate. Most of the schools are also open in Chennai.

Meanwhile, the theatre owners stated that they would stop movie shows from dawn to dusk. All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) leader C H Venkatachalam has said its members in Chennai will assemble in red T-Shirts near Marina Beach to extend support to, and solidarity with the protesters demanding Jallikattu.

The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors' Association has also called for an attention-seeking dharna to lift the ban on Jallikattu. Lawyers from various parts of the state have also come forward supporting the cause.

Private transport vehicles in Puduchery  stopped service on Friday. 

Police disconnected electricity and communication lines at Marina Beach on Tuesday to counter the protests. The protestors who had gathered at the beach for three days used their mobile phone torches on Thursday evening and shouted slogans. 

The public has also been supporting the protest by providing basic amenities, such as food and water to the agitators, for the fourth consecutive day.

Interestingly, students are keen on avoiding any form of political hijacking of the protest. Till now no violent incidents have been reported also. 

However, the opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has called for an all-party meeting and will be indulged in blocking railway tracks on Friday. The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is trying its best to bring a solution to the issue, which otherwise could also turn against the ruling government. Various other political parties are also supporting the protest.

Legal experts are also suggesting bringing in a law in the State Assembly to conduct Jallikattu as a sport since it is a state subject.

The protest spread across the state after the police took some of the protestors from Alanganallur in Madurai, which is famous for Jallikattu, into custody. 

On Monday, the protestors unleashed some bulls in Alanganallur and a few other parts of the state, in order to mark their protest. Thereafter the police arrested them and housed them in a marriage hall. Police force across the state are keeping vigil as the protest is growing.

DMK Working President M K Stalin demanded that the state government should take immediate action to allow the sport to take place. Various leading actors also came out supporting the protesters and termed the bull taming sport as the tradition of Tamil Nadu.

PETA officials have been quoted as saying that the demand to ban the organisation was foolish and it was not PETA which started the fight against the bull taming sport.

In Jallikattu, specially trained bulls are lead through a small gate to a path cordoned by the wooden fence, where young boys try to conquer the bull by holding on the hump of the bull for a certain distance or for a minimum number of jumps.

Certain animal lovers compare the game with the bull fight in Spain, where the bull is brutally killed for the pleasure of the viewers. 

In a judgement on May 7, 2014, the Supreme Court, banned the conduct of Jallikattu in the state of Tamil Nadu and also held that bulls cannot be used as performing animals either for Jallikattu events or for bullock cart races in the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country. The court also struck down a State Act passed in 2009 as ultra-vires.

"The ban on Jallikattu has caused widespread resentment and general disappointment among the people of Tamil Nadu, particularly in the rural areas, since Jallikattu is intertwined with the religious and social cultural ethos of the Tamil society," said O Panneerselvam, chief minister of Tamil Nadu in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.

Allowing the game could also be a political gain for the ruling party in the centre. In January 2015, the government of Tamil Nadu had requested Modi's personal intervention to enable the conduct of Jallikattu events in the state by denotifying bulls from the list of performing animals in the notification dated July 11, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

The centre has also issued a notification on January 7, 2016, which was expected to enable the groups to conduct Jallikattu during Pongal. However, it was stayed by the Supreme Court and the game was not conducted legally during the year, though in some places people tried to conduct it without the approval of the administration.

A review petition was filed by the government of Tamil Nadu on May 19, 2015, and the Supreme Court refused to review its earlier judgement and dismissed the review petition on December 16, 2016.

The state government has demanded that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, should clearly denotify bulls "as performing animals" from the notification issued on July 11, 2011, and suitably amend  Section 11(3)  of the  Prevention of Cruelty  to  Animals  Act,  1960  by  introducing  a  new  clause  in  sub - section  (3)  of Section 11 specifically exempting Jallikattu in addition to other exemptions already provided in the Act.