WHAT IS JALLIKATTU AND WHY FEW NGOs OPPOSED IT?
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What is Jallikattu :
"Jalli"+"Kattu", which refers to the gold or silver coins which will be tied around the bull's neck or on the horns. And the participants will take that small bag of coin/coins as his prize after he controls the Bull.
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How and why it is being celebrated :
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Stud bulls are reared by people for jallikattu. Among the participated Bulls, the one that win are much in demand for servicing the cows. Small farmers cannot afford to keep stud bulls, so each village has a common temple bull which services the cows of the village. Jallikattu is the show where bulls are brought and exhibited. The ones which are most agile (and virile) are preferred by farmers. The calves from such bulls are in demand.
The intricate connect between these events and farming can be seen from the chronological order in which showcase events like jallikattu happen first, then the shandies and then the main farming season starts. Once harvest is done, farmers take their bulls to participate in such events over the next few months; spectators and visitors make a note of the top bulls and seek them out in sandhais (cattle shandies/markets) which happen from December till April all over Tamil Nadu. The calves and bulls are bought for jallikattu and some of their offspring will be castrated and used as draught animals in transport/farming.
Stud bulls need to be alert, virile, and agile. In the peak of their reproductive period, they need to secrete the necessary male hormones and experience adrenalin rushes and pumping hearts. They need this for them to be virile. This is in the interest of the species as selective breeding is done to propagate the species. Stud bulls are used for jallikattu and mating only. Experienced bulls enjoy the situation and display a well thought out exit from the vaadi vaasal. Many of them show off by shaking their heads as a warning. This shows their familiarity with the Jallikattu event.
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Why and Who are Opposing Jallikattu and What are the main reasons behind it ??
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There are few angles to the opposition.
First is the urban disconnect with rural India and all that it entails. Policies are made by city folks.
The second group is the dairy lobby, which wants all native breeds to be eradicated. Events like jallikattu throw a spanner in their plans of creating commercial dairy farms with imported breeds just like in the West.
Beef exporters also benefit from a ban on jallikattu and other events. Farmers bring their cattle to be sold in weekly/monthly and annual shandies. Brokers will take the cattle from the farmers and hold them to be displayed to prospective buyers. Buyers fall into 3-4 categories: (1) The jallikattu enthusiast who will buy the bulls and male calves mostly; (2) Buyers of oxen for farming/transport; (3) Buyers of cows for breeding and household usage; (4) Beef traders who are mostly if not all agents of export companies and slaughter houses based in Kerala. They buy all cattle as they are only interested in meat.
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Negative side of Banning the Jallikattu:
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When a ban on jallikattu is in place, the simple supply-demand equation gets skewed. There are no takers in the first category, which means the bulls will only sought by the fourth category i.e. beef traders. With no demand from jallikattu enthusiasts, the price of such prized bulls falls to rock bottom. By killing the market for bulls to be used in jallikattu, the animal rights activists are directly responsible for sending them to slaughter. There is a huge demand for Bos Indicusvariety beef in the Gulf, Malaysia and Western countries. It is considered an exotic and healthy meat, just like country chicken.
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What we can Do and what's our responsibility while celebrating our traditional events :
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Finally this topic brings up the discussion of the practicality of Festivals in India. In the Subcontinent, our festivals were never environmental messes, they were celebrated in ways which the enviroment protected and sustained. South Asians should aim to celebrate Holi using natural dyes and powders, Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja using Clay murtis, Bakra Eid without creating bloody streets, Basant without manjhas that can kill people, Diwali with lighting diyas etc. We shouldn't change the purpose of our festivals, we should bring little modifications in our practices to make them environment friendly nothing other than that.
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Conclusion :
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I always support Jallikattu and the Sentiments of crores of Tamilian never could be banned or hurted by any Judiciary System.
© Uma Sankar Sahu
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