Violating wildlife laws, ‘Bulbul Dangal’ tradition goes on
PRAYAGRAJ : In violation of wildlife protection laws, the tradition of organising fights of Indian Bulbuls is continuing unabated in Kunda area of Pratapgarh district for past many decades. So much so that every Republic Day, a state level ‘Bulbul dangal’ is organised here in which participants from various districts come to test fighting skills of their birds against rivals. However, the rules and awards of the game are unique in nature--the winner is caged while the loser is granted freedom.
This tradition to celebrate Republic Day is rare and attracts hundreds of participants and audience but violates the rights of an indigenous local species of bird which comes under Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
This Republic Day too, the ‘bulbul’ fighting or ‘dangal’ started at Ramleela Ground early in the morning amidst cheers by the heavy crowd of locals. Over a dozen participants arrived from Pratapgarh, Azamgarh, Prayagraj, Mirzapur, Kaushambi, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Lucknow, Jaunpur, Rae Bareli, Basti and some other districts of the state with their ‘bulbuls’. Some with two or three while many with eight or more bulbuls to try their luck, says Bablu, one of the organisers.
The participants are chosen through lottery system. Bulbuls from different districts are let loose in the arena where they attack each other with full vigour and ferocity. Once a bulbul is defeated, its owner frees it while the winner is again caged for the next competition. This is the rule of the game here and is strictly followed, Bablu says.
On this Republic Day, the final match took place between the bulbuls of Shakeel of Badshahpur and Vicky of Prayagraj. Vicky had to set his bulbul free after it failed to win any match against the Shakeel’s bulbul.
Bablu’s brother Ehsan said their father started the tradition several decades back and now his two brothers and he himself are following his legacy. The arrangements are completed on the eve of Republic Day and the event continues till late in the evening. The participants have to give entry fee and the winners are given awards and shields, says Ehsan who claimed ignorance of any prohibition on using local wild animals and birds for entertainment purposes.
On the condition of anonymity, a bulbul owner of Chowk area of Prayagraj said the tradition of ‘bulbul dangal’ is very old and is being held often in Prayagraj and other districts on local level. In Chowk area, ‘bulbul dangal’ is organized often on Sundays secretly as many owners are now aware of the punishment it carries.
The bulbuls are fed with nutritious food and dry fruits for preparing them for fighting matches. They are trained to be aggressive and ferocious so that they gain upper hand on their opponents, he adds while admitting that many a times the birds receive serious injuries and die few days later.
Assistant forest conservator in Pratapgarh Ram Singh Yadav said that ‘bulbul’ is a local bird and is covered under Wildlife Protection Act. He said that any such fighting match in which ‘bulbuls’ were used were not in the knowledge of forest department until now. However, Yadav said that he would initiate an enquiry and would take proper action against those responsible.