It’s child, god and bull for us: Villagers rue Jallikattu ban
MADURAI: Alanganallur village, 15-odd kilometres north of Madurai — the third largest city in Tamil Nadu — is considered the sacred ground zero for the annual bull-taming festival of Jallikattu.
While it is a popular rural sport in Tamil Nadu, it is especially so in the southern districts and Madurai, where most of the action is witnessed every year. Hence, when the Supreme Court issued a stay on the ban of this sport days ahead of the start of the harvest festivities, the emotional outcome among the local population was not just disappointment but anger and rage as well.
Fearing the possibility of law and order problems, the number of beat cops in Alanganallur was increased by the local administration nearly 10 fold to around 450 policemen picketing in sensitive parts of the village.
Key are the three villages of Alanganallur, Avaniyapuram and Palamedu around Madurai, where participants and spectators from smaller villages congregate every year to witness young men, usually below 25 years, showcase their valour by taming the bulls.
After the SC ban last week, supporters of Jallikattu took to the streets. Murugan, a 36-yearold local from Madurai, who was among those leading the protests in Madurai, said, “The local political parties (who have some voice in Delhi) did not convey the Tamil sentiments sufficiently. We are more upset with them than with the (SC) order or even animal welfare groups for that matter.” There is also growing consensus among villagers to boycott the upcoming state assembly elections by returning voter ID cards.
The villagers say that unlike most other animal-related sport, Jallikattu comes with a certain sacredness that is not easy for those “sitting in AC rooms in Delhi” to understand.
Palanivel, a bull owner, explains, “It is child, god and the bull for us. These three are fed before we tend to our hunger. The quality of food served to the bull is always the best. Weekly bathing and trips to the vet are routines we never compromise. It does not matter what these costs are.”
The villagers say claims of cruelty towards the bulls are baseless. Unlike other animal sports like horse racing or cock-fighting, no training is involved in Jallikattu.
“The selection of young men who wish to participate is stricter than that for the army. Only the fittest are allowed to get into this sport. The bulls themselves have a short window of three years, between age 3 and 6, to participate, although they usually live up to age 12-15,” said Ramkumar, a local at Alanganallur who bears a large scar on his chest received from a bull when the sport was still legal.
What irks the villagers most is, what they say, inconsistent standards used in the banning of Jallikattu, while selling of cows for human consumption continues.
A policeman patrolling the streets of Alanganallur said every Tuesday, three truck-loads of cows are shipped from his village to Kerala for beef. “It is hard for us to understand how the animal welfare activists are comfortable with that but not with a traditional sport that is practiced under strict rules and observation,” he said.