Jallikattu: Rising storm

The protests for Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport, have snowballed into a mass movement, with almost the whole of Tamil society supporting holding of the sport. The fight to revoke the Supreme Court ban on the grounds of cruelty to animals has escalated so much that people now see it as a battle over higher Tamil rights, including Cauvery and other inter-state river waters. The Centre has a moral obligation not to enter the ordinance route again, as the Supreme Court is seized of the matter, after ruling that jallikattu, rekla races and cockfights can’t be held.

While the law should be supreme and can’t be expected to pander to every popular voice, at the same time millions can’t be jailed to uphold a ban, and a way must be found to allow a sanitised version of bull-taming to satisfy the vast rural demand for an ancient sport. The protests are threatening to spiral out of control, endangering the accepted sense of federalism. Like the Arab Spring, this movement seems to have picked up an anti-establishment tone quickly, but has been marked so far by non-violent methods of demonstration. The commonsense approach would be to allow a strictly court-monitored jallikattu that won’t harm the native bulls as in this country the abattoir practices on the same bulls can be far more beastly than in the sport to mark the harvest festival. Whichever way the court’s verdict goes, it’s up to the Centre to patiently find a route past objections to try allow what is a seasonal rural pastime.