Is Fighting a Hapless Bull The Sign of Heroism That Jallikattu Wants Us To Believe?

India seems to be getting into the dark, dark ages, while much of the world is striving to emerge out of the tunnel into light. Even a shackled Saudi Arabia is toying with individual freedom, giving women the licence to drive a vehicle. But we in India are trying to jail art or, in some cases, trumpeting over a tradition which is not just meaningless, but mindlessly cruel. Why, I am talking about Jallikattu, which is said to be the symbol of Tamil culture and heritage, the sign of male courage and valor. Never mind, the sport – where a bull is let into a ring and several able-bodied men try and frighten it into submission – that has this year led to the death of several people. Many more have been wounded by the bulls, which are provoked into unimaginable rage for a rampage in and around a holy city like Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

I pause to ponder how the Tamils, modern-day citizens, are any different from the ruthless, barbarous Romans of Middle Ages who threw slaves into huge arenas, where ferociously hungry animals tore apart the men. In Spain, matadors fought bulls in what was certainly an unequal fight, man clearly having an edge over the beast. In Tamil Nadu, several youths take on a bull under the pretext of taming it, if only to exhibit their own strength. But in this bloody sport called Jallikattu, the bull is often wounded, sometimes even killed. And men too, as we have been seeing in recent days.

Force-fed alcohol, and teased, taunted, pricked and poked into a state of frenzied anger, the bull gets into an uncontrollable fit — which is precisely what the men want, as they try to grapple with the animal, aiming at subjugating the poor helplessly confused beast. Some years ago, Jallikattu was banned by New Delhi after years of pressure from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). But in 2016, a huge people's movement in Chennai and other places in Tamil Nadu pushed the Union Government to modify its own 2011 order -- which included bulls in the list of animals that “shall not be exhibited or trained as performing animals”. A Supreme Court order in 2014 had endorsed the ban on Jallikattu.

The 2016 Government notification read: “Bulls may be continued to be exhibited or trained as performing animals — at events such as Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Gujarat — in the manner by the customs of any community or practiced traditionally under the customs or as a part of culture, in any part of the country”.

The notification added that this exemption was being given on condition that bulls were not treated cruelly. But who is to keep a watch over this. Let us not forget that much like the bloody bouts in medieval Rome and the Catalan bull fights in Spain (since proscribed), Jallikattu is an awfully cruel pastime that has killed countless animals and at least 200 men in their prime of life as well as wounded or maimed thousands in the past two decades. More will perish if Jallikattu is allowed to go on.

And unfortunately cinema has been a big propagator of Jallikattu with every big hero from M G Ramachandran (who went to become the Chief Minister of the State) to the currently reigning superstar, Rajinikanth, having fought a bull on screen at some point or the other in their career. And in a State where actors and actresses are venerated and worshiped like gods and goddesses, Jallikattu obviously has a mass appeal — though fueled by false bluster and illiteracy. So what if human lives are lost, and bulls are crucified on the battlegrounds of Madurai and elsewhere in a fight which is clearly unequal.

An editorial in The Hindu on Wednesday had this to say: “Clearly, the safety arrangements monitored by the district administration at these annual events in the Pongal season failed to prevent death and injury. With some of the events inducting more than 400 bulls and almost twice as many tamers, Jallikattu has become a disorderly spectacle, making a mockery of even well-laid-out plans. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), which was earlier in the forefront of documenting instances of mismanagement in the organizing of jallikattu events, seems to have shifted its stance with a change of office-bearers. Other than spotting some 'small mistakes' and 'human errors' the AWBI team’s convener, S.K. Mittal, found little amiss in the Palamedu (a Jallikattu venue) event. The concern, instead, was on preserving “native breeds” of bulls. After last year’s protests against the Supreme Court ban on jallikattu, when thousands of people gathered in public places in Tamil Nadu demanding a revival of the sport, the authorities have been wary of condemning bull-taming during Pongal. They now speak the language of custom and tradition, one that is similar to that of the Jallikattu enthusiasts.

“When the Supreme Court banned Jallikattu on the basis of submissions made by the AWBI, which recorded instances of cruelty to animals in regulated events, it did so on the ground that regulations were not working. Following public protests and political pressure, and on the strength of hurriedly drafted legislation, Jallikattu is now back on the Pongal calendar. But nothing much has changed on the ground”.

In the final analyses, I am appalled by the fact that while the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Government at the Center is almost obsessed with saving the cow – with gau rakshaks on the prowl – the poor male of the species, the bull, is being tortured in what is arguably a civilized Tamil Nadu.


(Gautaman Bhaskaran is an author, commentator and movie critic)