'Leaderless' Jallikattu protest is aimed at centre's apathy, TN's weakness

The traditionally peaceful state of Tamil Nadu is on the boil. Since January 17, tens of thousands of college students have been protesting against the ban on conducting Jallikattu (a bull taming sport). The protests began at Marina beach, Chennai and have spread to other cities and regions of the state.

Jallikattu is part of the four-day Pongal festival celebrated in January; this year, because of the Supreme Court’s ban and the absence of any remedial move from either the Centre or the state, the sport did not take place.

For the past few days the protestors, said to number