Ban on Jallikattu is a whole lot of bull
Will it, won't it? The people in southern Tamil Nadu - in Madurai, Thanjavur, Trichy, Pudukottai, Theni - have been on the horns of a dilemma over the Centre's procrastination over Jallikattu. Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar's promise of good news on Jallikattu around New Year's Day had raised their hopes, but with New Delhi thereafter going into silent mode, Tamil Nadu is no longer bullish over Jallikattu being allowed this Pongal.
Local organisers in Alanganallur, the village that hosts the biggest and what is billed as the "most grand" tell me "everything is ready" and that a day's notice is enough for them to get going. What they mean is that sponsors for the 15-20 lakh rupees prize money event are in place. Prizes include white goods as diverse as gold and silver coins to refrigerator to a washing machine. Either the bull that remains untamed wins it for its owner or the bull tamer who manages to overpower a bull takes home the goodies.
But much of this dilemma is also for public consumption, mainly for the outside world. Because mini-Jallikattus are pretty much the order of the day. Travel to Madurai and you will find "full-dress rehearsals" are on in Jallikattu country, as bulls are taken to open ground and events organised. Those in charge of ensuring the law is not broken, argue this is not the real Jallikattu, that has been banned by the court. So the spectacle of the bull being bullied by hundreds of youth is on.
The powers-that-be also realise that the mood is charged up this year. Defiance is in the air. There is a feeling of humiliation, almost bordering on revolt as youth articulate how a 69-year-old government can rule over a 450-year-old traditional sport. Illogical as it may sound, it finds ready takers in this patch of India. Already several smaller outfits have declared their intention to flout the court order.
Even the 2015 ban - the first time that Jallikattu was not organised - only meant the bull-taming sport was not organised formally. Bull-owners let loose their animals, with the brave trying to overpower it. What happened was worse, with the "game" not being played according to rules.
Animal rights activists and the Supreme court have been on the same page. That Jallikattu has seen cruelty of the worst kind. Of animals being poked with knives, chilly powder being thrown in their anus, bulls being forced to drink liquor and all kind of irritants including castor oil put in their eyes so that they can't see properly. They point out that the animal's tail is broken and stabbed with a knife and it is confronted with drunken louts who just jump on the bull and try to bring it down. Activists also point out that the family of a person who was killed in Jallikattu went to court initially, arguing that the sport is dangerous both for the animal and the human being.
Jallikattu lovers disagree, arguing why would they harm their own bulls, who are like "family members". They ridicule activists for mistaking vermilion for chilly powder and plead for Jallikattu be allowed, even if it means making the rules more stringent.
The fact that Jallikattu is part of the social, cultural and religious tradition is emphasised repeatedly. In Madurai, Jallikattu is heavily romanticised, both by men and women. Women blush talking of how they fall in love with a bull tamer, who manages to control the most wild of bulls with style and panache. For men, Pongal is the time to show off that they have the heart to conquer the wild beast. In this kind of an atmosphere, the Centre, the Supreme court and the animal rights activists come across as the villains of the piece, obstructing what people in southern Tamil Nadu believe is their birthright. The "outsider" trying to control our lives, is a line that has been injected into the narrative.
With elections due in Tamil Nadu four months from now, Jallikattu this Pongal has acquired the colour of a political game. All the political parties have backed the return of Jallikattu. The DMK is trying to taunt the AIADMK and the BJP that they cannot ensure the sport is played. The BJP which is looking to make inroads into Tamil Nadu, was hoping to ride the bull but now finds itself between a bull and a hard place.