Opinion - Editorials   

End to an insensate sport

Some of the most mindless things in the world are done in the name of honour and valour, and jallikattu, the traditional taming-of-the-bull ritual that coincides with the harvest festival of Pongal in Tamil Nadu, is certainly one of them. Animal rights activists are not the only people to be agitated about jallikattu, in which the bull is subjected to horrifying forms of cruelty before and during the taming contest. What is a matter of even greater concern about an event wherein hundreds of youths try to hold onto the horns or the hump or the tail of a rampaging bull in an open arena is that it claims the lives of many among the contenders and spectators, who are either gored to death or killed in a stampede. By refusing to vacate the stay on this gory ritual that goes in the name of sport, the Supreme Court has in effect ruled in favour of the poor, uneducated youths who risk their lives in the hope of being hailed as heroes. For some petty cash and short-lived fame, they make a spectacle of themselves. Not only the participating youths, sometimes the spectators too are among the jallikattu-induced casualties as the animal is not known to respect the man-made barriers separating the two sections. Although jallikattu in some areas such as Alanganallur has, over the years, become an international tourist attraction due to the State government’s promotional effort, very little is being done to make the ritual safer for the animal, the participants, and the spectators.

Supporters of jallikattu have pointed to its roots in traditional belief systems and customs. Villagers are said to regard a failure to hold the event a bad omen. But traditions that militate against reason and concern for human lives have no place in a civilised society. The Supreme Court ban is restricted to jallikattu, and does not apply to other traditional sporting contests of Pongal involving the bull, such as the bullock cart race and bullock race. Only the confrontationist element that courts danger to life in the festival, not any competitive element, has been curbed by the court. In any case, jallikattu in its present form is of recent origin. The contest, which when originally conceived was between one man and one bull, has over decades turned into an unruly and dangerous sport, the massive and unregulated participation rendering it almost impossible for the event to be made accident-free. Instead of contesting the ban, the State government must help create a greater awareness about the dangers of this sport. Surely, there are any number of competitive sports and activities — other than the insensate and life-threatening contest with a bull — available for the rural youth to keep the festive spirit alive.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

No case for tax cuts
End to an insensate sport
Pakistan army: declining credibility
Our leap to front page news, half a century ago
Our Front Page
India and the United Kingdom: partners of choice in higher education
Spain chooses lyrics for national anthem
Welcome verdict
Needed, rethink
People’s car

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu