Few urban elitists partnered with foreign NGOs using the facade of “animal activism” tried to end one of the major cultural practices of Tamilians, Jallikattu, but they did not expect the onslaught that they faced. The supposed “uncouth Tamilians” (in the minds of the “activists”) showed a template for the Rest of India on how to preserve their culture through dignified non-violent protests. Led by their youth, the Tamilians showed exemplary behavior in their protests to win the day to preserve their 5000-year-old culture. The protests won praise from the Chennai police as well, who applauded the protestors for their responsible behavior and won many hearts across India. This also garnered more support from celebrities such as Virender Sehwag, Viswanathan Anand and Ex-SC judge Markandeya Katju.  

Chennai City Police’s Facebook Update

The Tamil Nadu Government issued an ordinance called Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Ordinance 2017 where 4 sections of the parent PCAA were amended, namely, 2, 3, 11, 27 and a new section 28A was added. The BJP Government has thrown the weight behind it as seen by the quick approval from HMO and Law ministries. And the Supreme Court has acceded to a request from Center to temporarily hold off on the final verdict on Jallikattu by a week. At the time of my writing this, a bill was passed in the Tamil Nadu assembly converting the ordinance into law.

Some news organizations compared it to the “Arab Spring” but I would say that it is not something without a precedent. The moment has its foundation in 2 events. In 2003, then Government of Tamil Nadu under Jayalalithaa joined hands with the ruling party in the center, BJP along with few Right-Wing elements in their effort to “homogenize” Hindu practices. It banned animal sacrifice rituals in village temples citing the Tamil Nadu Animals and Birds Sacrifices Prevention Act, 1950.  Ironically, the group which opposes these Right-Wing groups, the Dravidar Kazhagam, supported her initiative.

Village temples are the cornerstone of the Hinduism practiced in Tamil Nadu and majority Hindus, especially ones in rural Tamil Nadu, follow this religious worship. People protested and some were arrested. But the sentiment against the Government was massive that the iron lady had to back out by Feb of 2004 when she revoked the ban through an ordinance. But people of Tamil Nadu did not forgive her and her party along with BJP lost all 39 Lok Sabha seats in the elections of 2004 and later the state elections in 2006 and was voted out of power.

Masani Amman, one of the Village deities in Tamil Nadu, people fervently worship

The second event happened in Dec 2015, when Chennai saw high levels of flooding and the Tamil Nadu Government was found wanting. Amidst the chaos, a bunch of youth from Chennai and Tamil Nadu stepped in, organized themselves in a massive scale using Social Media, and helped the people in those times of crisis.

History of Jallikattu

Yeru Thazhuval (hugging the bull) or Manju Virattu or Callikattu or Jallikattu, as it is commonly referred to, is about men claiming the salli (coin - silver or gold) tied(kattu) to the horns of the bull after hugging the bull for a few meters (in few seconds).  It depicts the symbiotic relationship between the cattle and the farmers who raised them. The unconquered bull claimed the honors and brought fame to the family who raised him. This practice goes back 5000 years to the Indus-Valley era, and is conducted during the Tamil festival of Pongal in the Tamil month of Thai, coinciding with the month of January in the Gregorian calendar. This sport was referred to in Sangam Tamil literature (5th BCE - 3rd CE) as well. Though many Tamilians have never seen this sport in action, most understand that this is their heritage.

Young girls would bring up these stud bulls and the young men who can complete the Jallikattu run can claim their hand in marriage. Nowadays, it is held normally on the day of Pongal called “Maatu Pongal” (Pongal for cattle). The stud bulls are decorated, worshipped and brought to the Jallikattu grounds where they are released through the gate called Vaadivaasal. Men gather and attempt to grab the hump of these bulls and run around for few meters.

A complete bio-ecosystem exists behind the few minutes of these run by these bulls. Healthy calves are the focus of these farmers just like the ancient Sparta. The few native breeds involved in this cultural practice are the ones with large humps called Bos Indicus. Today the native breeds involved in Jallikattu are Kangeyam, Puliakulam, Malaimadu and Umblacherry. The healthy male calves are fed well, treated with care and allowed to grow as stud bulls. In turn, these bulls are used to impregnate and get healthy, disease resistant progenies.

This practice is unlike other regions in Tamil Nadu where Jallikattu is not held, where the poor farmers do not see an incentive in keeping the male calves (or Kidas as they called in Tamil) and would sell them to the middlemen who in turn will send them away to slaughterhouses and sell the meat to the different restaurants in Tamil Nadu. The restaurants mix this meat with the goat meat and serve them as mutton which in itself an illegal practice. Or these calves are illegally transported across the border to Kerala, where there are no laws against bovine slaughter. Due to lack of bulls, the cows are artificially impregnated and in turn, the calves are not as healthy as the ones in the regions where Jallikattu is practiced.

The other benefit as claimed by several animal activists being just like the African Zebu cattle, these native breeds contribute to A2 milk considered healthy compared to the A1 milk from Western cattle breeds like Jersey. They have claimed that it has been scientifically researched that A1 milk contributes to various cardio-vascular diseases, autism etc. Tamil people believe in this and so A2 milk sells for ₹100/liter in parts of Coimbatore while A1 costs ₹35/liter.

Jallikattu Bull seen in Annamar Temple, Mollipalli, 8 km from Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu

Jallikattu is revered by most Tamilians as their heritage and the bulls are worshipped such that each temple in the village would have a stud bull dedicated to it. And the reckless youth are addressed as “Koil kalai” (temple bull) due to the uninhibited ways of these temple bulls.  Bull or Nandi is considered the vehicle of Lord Shiva and Chozha/Pandya/Pallava/Chera kings built huge Nandis in their Shiva temples. And temples of village gods carry statues of Bulls in rural Tamil Nadu.

Timelines of the issue of Jallikattu Ban

The Trouble started in March of 2006 for Jallikattu, when the then judge of Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, Bhanumathy (currently a Supreme Court Judge) unilaterally expanded the scope to include Jallikattu in her hearing of a writ petition for permission to conduct Rekhla race (bull-cart race) in Ramanathapuram district. She subsequently banned Jallikattu citing Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCAA) 1960.

In 2009, the Government of Tamil Nadu passed The Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act (TNRJA) and allowed Jallikattu with certain conditions like written permission from the respective district collectors. But the real trouble started in 2011, when the Ministry under Jairam Ramesh of the ruling Congress party, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), issued notification including Bulls in the PCAA 1960 in the list of banned performing animals.

NGOs like People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Humane Society of India (HSI) saw an opportunity, stepped in with their financial power along with the Animal Welfare Body of India (AWBI), went to the court in July of 2014 citing cruelty and got Jallikattu banned when Supreme Court struck down TNRJA. The financial and lobbying power of these NGOs could not be matched by the poor farmers and animal activists like Karthikeya Senapathy in spite of their best efforts.

BJP Government in Jan 2016 passed an ordinance rolling back changes made in 2011 to the PCAA 1960 and allowing Jallikattu but the AWBI and NGOs got a stay on Jallikattu from Supreme Court the same month. In July 2016, Supreme Court provided its verdict banning Jallikattu.

Current Protests

Tamil people were expecting a law to overturn ban of Jallikattu by Pongal in Jan 2017 after a review petition was filed by the Tamil Nadu Government but the Supreme Court had ruled out early final verdict before Pongal thus ruling out Jallikattu run.

Village after village started protesting but the flame was effectively lit in one of the main centers of Jallikattu, at a village called Alanganallur near Madurai, when protestors from different parts of Tamil Nadu sat in a sit-in protest throughout the night and locked horns with the police. About 100 people were detained and 30 were arrested after police conducted lathi-charge on the protestors. These were effectively leaderless protests.

But the news had spread through the social media and some called for a protest in Marina beach, Chennai next day and that is where the protests took the whole of Tamil Nadu by storm which resonated with the rest of the Tamilians, who started the protests in different towns and cities across Tamil Nadu and later across the globe wherever there was significant Tamil population. Pregnant women, newly married, old, students, IT professionals and people from different walks of life, participated in the protests identifying themselves with the emotional issue at hand understanding that few elitists were systematically assaulting their culture.

Crowd of 5000 became more than a lakh the next day aided only by the Social Media as majority of the Main Stream Media avoided the news for the first 2 days. But the behavior of the crowd is what stood out – youngsters took care of young women one of whom emotionally commented “the youngsters took care of us like a father”, old women feeding the youngsters like a mom would, youngsters providing water packets to policemen, a police officer providing water to one of the protestors, some were cleaning up the place and others regulating the traffic. The celebrities were ignored or treated as one of among them eschewing special treatment. All these resonated with the rest of the Tamilians who joined the protests and it became massive that the state and central Governments wanted to provide a favorable ending.  

Protests in full swing in Marina Beach, Chennai Cr: A friend

A protestor in Marina Beach, Chennai Image Credit: A friend

Not that the protests were not without negatives. By the 5^th day, political parties through their stooges had gained access to the protest site. And some anti-nationals were displaying pictures of the terrorists, Osama Bin Laden and Hafeez Saeed. The activists body who were at the forefront of the protests and were involved in fighting the Jallikattu issue for a long time – activists like Karthikeya Senapathy, Rajasekar, HipHopTamilzha music group’s Aadi, Rajesh had called for a press meet and have called for the ending of the protests on Jan 22^nd as the objective of the protests was achieved after the ordinance was passed and the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu promised a bill next day in Tamil Nadu Assembly (which he did). But some elements had caused violence and damaged the Icehouse Police station in Tripilicane, Chennai and few vehicles as the police started evicting the protestors. But the Chennai police has confirmed it was not the students who indulged in violence but the anti-national elements.

I would not claim victory yet for the people as the work is only half done. More hard work is needed from Government of India to prevent anymore mischief in banning Jallikattu. There are couple of issues below, which the Government of India should address for a permanent solution.

Dubious role of AWBI and NGOs

It would only be appropriate to point out the dubious role of one of the main culprits who contributed to the ban i.e. AWBI, a statutory advisory body under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) under Government of India and gets a budget for few crores paid by Taxpayers' money. This grant is spent mostly for the upkeep of the welfare of the animals to ensure implementation of PCAA 1960.  AWBI, which had assumed the role of enforcer of PCAA 1960 has not strictly enforced the animal slaughter ban across various states, especially Tamil Nadu but had used the same Act to go against the Government of India under which it comes. And AWBI along with NGOs like PETA has used 11 senior counsels to argue the case for a ban of Jallikattu. How the fees were paid to these senior counsels remain a mystery. The question to be asked is whether AWBI used taxpayers’ money to fight a case against Government of India or whether AWBI got any funding from foreign NGOs like PETA.

Basically, AWBI had behaved like a parasite but the body itself has members from various NGOs cited above.  AWBI has 28 board members. Its Vice Chairman is Chinni Krishna who is also part of the Blue Cross Society of India. Another member is N.G. Jaisimha, Managing Director, and HSI India.  Poorva Joshipura, the CEO of PETA India, is a Co-opted member in AWBI.

And it should be noted that the board does not contain any elected representatives of the people currently. Fundamentally, AWBI is controlled by foreign NGOs and had gone against the taxpayers. Either Government of India needs to disband the AWBI or replace its members with activists who are more in tune with the local culture of the people.

Secondly, Government of India needs to amend PCAA 1960 through the Parliament, rolling back the controversial notification of 2011 by the then Congress Government. The law passed by Tamil Nadu Government might not stand scrutiny by the Supreme Court and so the amendment is essential.

Conclusion

Until the above two changes are done, there is no permanent solution for Jallikattu but I take heart from the positivity around the reactions. As stated by Chess legend, Viswanathan Anand, “My state rises again. In unison. In peace. Proud to be a #tamizhanda. Genext here are modern yet culturally rooted.”