Jallikattu and other Animal Sports in India
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Jallikattu and other Animal Sports in India
Context: The Tamil Nadu government issued an order permitting Jallikattu (traditional bull taming events) across the state during the Pongal festival next week adhering to Covid-19 protocols.
The Jallikattu is celebrated in the second week of January, during the Tamil harvest festival, Pongal .
It is a competitive sport which over 2,000 years old.
It is a violent sport in which contestants try to tame a bull for a prize; if they fail, the bull owner wins the prize.
This very much popular in Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Theni, Pudukkottai and Dindigul districts known as the Jallikattu belt.
It is a traditional way for the peasant community to preserve their pure-breed native bulls.
The conservationists and peasants argue that Jallikattu is a way to protect these male animals which are otherwise used only for meat if not for ploughing.
Issues Associted with Ban on ‘Jallikattu’
First came under legal scrutiny in 2007 when the Animal Welfare Board of India and the animal rights group PETA moved petitions in the Supreme Court against Jallikattu as well as bullock cart races. Tamil Nadu government worked its way out of the ban by passing a law in 2009, which was signed by the Governor.
In 2011, the UPA regime at the Centre added bulls to the list of animals whose training and exhibition is prohibited.
In May 2014, the Supreme Court banned the bull-taming sport, ruling on a petition that cited the 2011 notification.
In January 2017, massive protests against the ban, with Chennai city witnessing a 15-day-long Jallikattu uprising.
The same year, the Tamil Nadu government released an ordinance amending the central Act and allowing Jallikattu in the state; this was later ratified by the President.
PETA challenged the state move, arguing it was unconstitutional
In 2018, the Supreme Court referred the Jallikattu case to a Constitution Bench, where it is pending now. This is to decide whether Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra can conserve jallikattu and bullock cart races as their cultural right and demand their protection under Article 29 (1)