The siege by thousands of students on Marina Beach in Chennai demanding lifting ban on traditional bull taming sport, Jallikattu, may be three or four days old, but is an eruption of boiling Tamil pride after an underground spadework for the past three to four years. Besides 25,000 youth on Marina, another 10 lakh people were on the streets across Tami Nadu by Friday.
This is for the first time that the southern state is on a militant path after the violent anti-Hindi stir in the 1960s. Also another first is that both the ruling AIADMK and the main opposition DMK, have come together on a public issue, and demanded that the Supreme Court imposed ban on Jallikattu be lifted immediately.
The only other occasion these two archrivals have come closer recently was the demise of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa two months ago, but that was purely an emotional issue. Not just the political parties, a majority of celebrities including movie stars Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Simbu and Dhanush, chess champion Viswanathan Anand and spiritual gurus Jaggie Vasudev and Sri Sri, joined the Jallikattu protesters.
‘ASSAULT ON TAMIL CULTURE’
For those watching developments in Tamil Nadu from elsewhere in India, it may appear strange that a rural sport like Jallikattu should spark such protests across the state. For those abroad, it may appear strange that Tamils should be demanding a ban on Peta (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
However, for those students who have squatted on the Marina Beach since 17 January, Tuesday, Jallikattu is everything that symbolises Tamil culture, tradition, heritage and identity. For Tamils, Jallikattu is an integral part of the agrarian rural economy. They firmly believe that Jallikattu helps them identify the fittest bulls for cattle breeding, which give birth to quality bulls and cows. Tamils think that any assault on Jallikattu is a direct attack on indigenous breeding that sustained quality cattle in the state for centuries.
According to several experts and activists, who spoke to The Sunday Guardian, this is a turf of many battles—the SC vs Tamil pride, the multinational NGOs vs Tamil culture, the urban elite vs rural Tamil Nadu, the upper caste vs lower strata of Tamil Dravidian culture. It is an “Us vs Them” moment on many fronts.
Tempers ran high among the protesters at Marina Beach after it was known that Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi had failed to cut any ice—the news that the Prime Minister had told the Chief Minister that the Centre has full support for the culture and traditions of Tamil Nadu, but it cannot do anything on it as the matter was sub-judice.
There were dozens of small meetings across Marina Beach on Thursday evening where the speakers asked like: “Who is the Supreme Court to decide on what is good for Tamil Nadu?” “Who are those sitting in AC rooms to decide what sport we should celebrate?” “Why is the Centre neglecting our Tamil sentiments even after lakhs of people have poured out on streets?”. “No, no,” echoed replies.
Obviously, the speakers were trying to incite Tamil sentiment, which is always like a powder keg ready to explode. The activist supporters of Jallikattu were calling the shots as thousands of people were ready to listen to them.
SPADEWORK DONE
Many were comparing the situation in Chennai with the Arab Spring and calling it “Occupy Marina Beach”. The protests appeared spontaneous and sudden. But a lot of spadework went into these and a dedicated team of votaries of Jallikattu have worked overtime to trigger a situation like this now. Outfits like Senapathy Kangeyam Cattle Research Foundation (SKCRF) have done their groundwork.
Founded by K.N. Saminathan in 1972, the SKCRF is one among the strong votaries of Jallikattu as a tool for development of high quality cattle breed.
“Those who don’t know anything about Jallikattu are attacking the sport. This is part and parcel of our agrarian culture and traditions. Originally, we had over 100 breeds of cattle that sustained through Jallikattu. But the bans by governments and courts over the years are destroying our cattle wealth,” Hima Kiran, joint secretary of SKCRF told The Sunday Guardian on phone from Chennai.
Hima Kiran dismissed the criticism of Peta and other activists who got the SC to ban Jallikattu on the “premise” that the sport was cruelty against animals. “They don’t know anything about our culture and agriculture economy. They are elites who sit in cities and AC rooms. In Jallikattu, bulls are not subjected to any cruelty or are intoxicated or harmed. They are just tested for their virility, agility, sturdiness and alertness,” he said.
Hima Kiran demanded that nothing short of an ordinance by the Centre revoking the ban on Jallikattu would satisfy the protesters across Tamil Nadu. “We demand promulgation of an ordinance in the short term, and a Bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act 1960—amending Sections 5, 11, 21 and 27,” said Hima Kiran.
SKCRF, along with other like-minded organisations, has built strong networks among supporters of Jallikattu since the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court have begun imposing restrictions or banning the sport since 2009. The Tamil Nadu government has brought a law in 2009, allowing Jallikattu with some conditions, but it was struck down by the courts subsequently. The 2014 ban by the SC has provoked all the supporters of Jallikattu to come together and spread the message on social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. Invariably, the messages are in Tamil language, appealing to Tamil pride and sentiments. Several Southern Tamil Nadu based outfits worked very hard for the past two months to bring crowds to the Marina Beach. The situation was boiling.
‘WHERE IS THE CRUELTY?’
The supporters of Jallikattu point to the format of the sport as practised in rural Tamil Nadu since 400 BC. In every village, a bull is named after a temple or an individual and is tied with coins or ribbons on its horns. Once the game begins, the bull is left to run and some daring youth rush to recover the coin or ribbon by taming it. “So, tell us where is the cruelty?” asked Saravanan, a supporter. Of course, the sport is celebrated in different formats in different areas, but the basic theme is farming rural people playing with their bulls. “For us, bulls are like our children. How can we harm them? Who are they to tell us how to play with our bulls?” asked S. Ramalingam, a former DMK ward member in Madurai civic body. Madurai is the hub of Jallikattu in Southern TN. Now, Peta activists are on the run in Chennai. None of them are willing to speak on the record as the fear of personal attacks haunt them.