Jallikattu- the juggernaut that must be stopped!

“The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.” – Georgia Harkness

Treading back the alley of my scribbled sentiments, drawing on the thin fine line of the opium of the masses (read: religion), I wander in the wild & wilderness.

Every year a sleepy village in Tamil Nadu comes to mainstream media spotlight. Decorations and delight all around, the celebration is impregnated in the air and as hoards of spectators huddle together, the human perimeter around the field sinks in the fanfare. The frenzy of both locals and foreign tourists reaches an avalanche- a rural celebration of epic proportions? Wait!

Into this grand setting that may remind you of a tight budgeted amphitheater, an infuriated bull is unleashed — adorned with tawdry accessories, rubbed with bright colors and with money tied around its horns. The bull is chased by villagers. Their objective is to hold on to the animal for as long as possible in an effort to tame the animal and seize the money. Welcome to the 4,000 year old “sport” of Jallikattu, a local version of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

The term Jallikattu comes from the term “Salli” kassu (coins) and “Kattu” (meaning a package) tied to the horns of the bulls as the prize money.

Now read this-

Not a single year has passed by without blood shed. Human lives are lost too.

D. Rajasekar, secretary of the Animal Welfare Board of India in Chennai says, “The bulls are abused by rubbing chilli powder in their eyes. That’s not all. They are forced to drink alcohol to drive them into frenzy.” Some bulls are raised exclusively for this purpose. Their testicles are pinched to make them more aggressive. Their tails are twisted and bitten.

But then, had it been about animal agony alone, who would have cared? In a world which has sensory detections for only one pain, that of a human. The ears were long turned deaf to the wails of the wild.

“Jallikattu has become an industry and people are making money. This is normally done during Pongal. How can you stretch it for five months upto May?” asked the The Supreme Court of India.

The next Jalli kattu hearing is on the 13th of August,2010. Please mail to AWBI against this blood sport so that they can present it at the hearing.

Here is the draft mail.

Every religion must go through a continuous self cleansing process to get rid of its orthodox mal practices, and when I say it, I mean it for ‘every’ religion. Modernity is a myth, if it doesn’t abolish orthodoxies which don’t find sync in the moral views of the new world.

If it is for being in the name of religion and pleasing the lord then why ban ‘Sati’? Wouldn’t it have got gods enraged? The Hinduism lawmakers Yajnavalkya & Manu Inc. had constituted many blasphemous rites in the name of religion, many of which leave my incisors dying to make mark in the back of the legislative ‘holier than thou’ flesh! 

If it is in the name of tradition and cultural heritage then it must be noted that the historical evidences reveal that the sport was never what it is today. 

For those hoisting the flag in favor of it being a veera velayattu(guts and glory sport), the difference between valour and stupidity is a thin fine line. Taming a strong animal and playing a pseudo hero? Why don’t serve in the fight against terrorism?And then there is a section esp. Tamilnadu Tourism department which wants Jallikattu continued as it attracts foreigners- well, if blood served as an effective tourist magnet than Afghanistan (or closer home Kashmir) would have had the maximum tourists flocking in?

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