Tamil Nadu government’s efforts to conduct Jallikattu on the strength of an ordinance promulgated on Saturday met with limited success as protesters rejected the celebrations demanding a permanent solution to the Supreme Court ban on the traditional sport.
Protesters at the hub of the bull taming sport in Alanganallur in South Tamil Nadu prevented the conduct of the festival planned to be inaugurated by the Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. Similar official events planned elsewhere also met with vehement resistance.
However, Jallikattu was conducted at a few places in Tiruchi and Pudukottai.
Lakhs of protesters statewide rejected the official events as they felt that an Ordinance by the State is only a temporary solution. They demanded that the Central Act on Prevention of Cruelty to Animals be amended by Parliament.
"We don't need an Ordinance but a permanent solution to be able to hold Jallikattu every year," said J Selvi, a student and native of Kumbakonam who has been camping at the Marina Beach, along with thousands of protesters.
The Beach has become the central venue for the demonstrations over the last one week. Similar protests in various parts of Tamil Nadu is also seeing mass participation by the public.
Sudhakar, a law student, said “Jallikattu is Tamilians' right. An Ordinance is just an eye wash and a stop gap solution to disperse us. However, we will not move from here till a permanent solution is found.”
Legal experts too feel that a State ordinance or Act that runs contrary to a Central Act may not be effective.
The Supreme Court had used the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 to ban the sport in 2014. Since then the court has stood firm and dismissed a review petition by the State government. It has reserved the judgment on a notification by the Union Environment Ministry in January 2016 to get around the ban.
The protests started in a sporadic way last week with a few hundred gathering at the Marina Beach in Chennai, Madurai and elsewhere. But the movement fuelled by social media caught the imagination of the public resulting in mass participation.
The Ordinance on Saturday was passed by the Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao, with the approval of the President Pranab Mukherjee to enable conduct of Jallikattu.
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured the Centre’s support. The Chief Minister has also said that the Ordinance would be replaced with a Law to be enacted in the Assembly session starting tomorrow. But the protesters are not convinced.