Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court green signal to the bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu,’ saying it was a verdict worth “engraving in gold” in the history of the state and that the sport reflected “Tamils’ bravery and culture.”
The BJP’s state unit credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “persistent efforts” in lifting the ban. However, the DMK stated that the favourable judgement was possible due to the state government placing “good” arguments in support of Jallikattu in the court, even using the hashtag ‘#DMKSavesTamilPride’ on its official Twitter handle.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice K M Joseph delivered the unanimous verdict on Thursday, dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the validity of laws in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra that allow sports involving animals including Jallikattu and bullock cart races and noted that that the existing Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2017, substantially minimises pain and suffering to animals.
In a tweet, the DMK chief said: “We are constructing a massive Jallikattu arena in Alanganallur (in Madurai). We will celebrate a victory event during Pongal” in January 2024, he added. The party used the hashtag ‘#DMKSavesTamilPride’ on its official Twitter handle. Jallikattu, also known as ‘eru thazhuvuthal’ is a bull-taming sport played in Tamil Nadu as part of the Pongal harvest festival in January. Meanwhile, BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai said the notification to ban the sport was introduced in 2011 during the UPA 2 regime by then Union Minister Jairam Ramesh. The NDA government in 2016 published a gazette notification allowing Jallikattu though the SC stayed the government order enabling the continuation of the ban, he recalled.
