By IANS
Chennai : The Tamil Nadu government Saturday decided to seek the review of a Supreme Court order banning the traditional bullfight – jallikattu.
In a statement released Saturday evening, Chief Secretary L.K. Tripathi said the decision to seek review of the court decision was taken in view of “widespread disappointment” among people.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting here after which Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi instructed government lawyers to file a review petition, Tripathi said.
Jallikattu is a traditional bullfight that takes place just after the harvest festival of Pongal, to be celebrated Tuesday. The bulls are in a high state of excitement and are tamed by men, in an event considered as part of the worship of mother Goddess Muthalamma.
Government sources said there was pressure from the ruling DMK’s allies, the PMK and the Dalit Panthers of India (also known as VCK) that the government should file a review petition. The petition is likely to be filed Sunday.
Earlier Saturday, Police in Tamil Nadu registered a case against the organisers of a jallikattu event a day after the Supreme Court upheld the ban on the event.
The bullfight was organised Friday in Soorakudi village, in Sivaganga district about 650 km from state capital Chennai. The organisers had given a written undertaking not to conduct the fight but still went ahead with the event, police officers said.
The Supreme Court Friday had upheld the ban on jallikattu, saying the bullfight in which the animals are tortured and made to run amok represented “severe cruelty”.
In a verdict in favour of animal rights groups that have protested this tradition, the apex court ruled, ” …let there not be any confrontation between the public and the bull”.
The tradition of taming the bull is said to have been observed among tribes of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu since 300 AD and is said to find mention in the classic “Cilappatikaram”.
The tradition is now an annual routine in the villages across the southern districts of the state during the three-day Pongal festival and is billed by the state government as a tourist attraction, with the largest show in Allanganallur near Madurai.
The local government in Soorakudi village met Saturday and said it would observe a “black day” on the Pongal day. Shops were shut Saturday despite the festive season as a mark of protest against the court ruling.
The popular sport has been showcased in over half a dozen Tamil films, including the Rajnikant-starrer “Murrattu Kalai” and Kamal Haasan-starrer “Veerumandi”.
Peoples For Animal convenor Shiranee Pereira said the Supreme Court verdict “is a judgement that has recognised the sanctity of life”. Every year several people die in the effort to tame bulls and scores of animals are injured, she added.
The police will find it difficult to enforce the apex court order, senior police officials said on condition of anonymity.
They maintain that thousands of villagers believe that not having a jallikattu would amount to displeasing Goddess Muthalamma and would bring ill fate and calamity to the villages.