Jallikattu: Government awaits Supreme Court ruling

New Delhi: With the Tamil Nadu government asking the Centre to promulgate an ordinance to enable the smooth conduct of Jallikattu, the Union government said on Wednesday that “things are ready from our side”, but insisted that it would wait for the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the issue.

Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave, who met a delegation led by deputy speaker of Lok Sabha and AIADMK MP M. Thambidurai regarding this issue, also blamed the previous Congress-led UPA government for including bulls in the list of animals prohibited from being exhibited or trained as performing animals.

Mr Dave asserted that there was no ill-treatment with the bulls during the performance of the sport and expressed confidence that the Supreme Court will look into all these aspects while giving its decision so that the people can celebrate their festivals.

“We, being the government, are just waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision. What I feel is that we should request the Supreme Court to give its judgement, then the government can take any step. The government is ready even at midnight to do all these things. But all depends, as we are in a structured organisation. Parliament is supreme. But the court is also there. Therefore, it will be better that the moment the decision on the pending case comes, things are ready from our side. I am waiting for the decision desperately,” Mr Dave told reporters after meeting the delegation.

There has been a growing chorus for holding bull taming sport Jallikattu, with Tamil Nadu chief minister O. Panneerselvam writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the Centre to consider promulgating an ordinance to enable the conduct of the sport.

While AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala wrote a letter to Mr Modi on Wednesday, noting that the ban on the bull-taming sport had caused “resentment” in the state, a 27-member delegation led Mr Thambidurai submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office in this regard.

The delegation stressed that it was wrong to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the issue.

Later, he tweeted, “The mother of problem is the Congress-led UPA government which included bulls in performing list in 2011.” Coming out in support of Jallikattu, students staged demonstrations at many places on Wednesday across Tamil Nadu, including in Madurai, where the police used force to disperse protesters who tried to break barricades to enter the the district collectorate.

The Supreme Court had dismissed the plea of the state government, seeking a review of its 2014 judgement banning the use of bulls for Jallikattu events, in November.

However, the apex court had reserved its order on a peitition challenging a notification by the Centre in January, 2016, that excluded bulls from the banned animals list, a Peta activist said.