No Jalli, Nor Kattu: What are Tamil students protesting over?

Thousands of students have laid siege to Marina Beach, usually a VIP route through which the Chief Minister and his Cabinet traverse to the Secretariat from their respective homes. A high security area, where protests are never given permission by the police.

But this one was spontaneous—headless, faceless, leaderless. College managements and professors have asked their students to get out of the classrooms and join the protests, demanding a restoration of what these students see as “Tamil identity and pride”.

The ire is turned on PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), an NGO that works towards animal welfare, toward Tamil actors like Trisha who have been brand ambassadors for PETA, and the media and police in general. No one seems to know why—especially when it is the Animal Welfare Board of India, a government body, which moved the court and got the ban in place.

Social media—Facebook in particular—is awash with high-pitched hollering, calling more people to join the protests demanding Jallikattu. While the protests were largely peaceful for the first two days, from the third day onwards, a section of students began throwing water sachets and bottles at the media and police. A couple of policemen were injured in the melee. The state government, wary of antagonising students, has asked the police to go soft on the “emotional crowd”. The crowd is also unruly and unwilling to back off—students have found a voice, some freedom, and they intend to milk it for all it is worth.

In all of this mayhem, some truths are ignored or unknown. Most protesters have possibly not read the May 07, 2014 verdict of the Supreme Court by Justices KS Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra Ghose. If they did, they would find that all of their claims have been tackled in detail by the 100-page order.

In the order, the SC clearly states why the bull should not be removed from the list of animals which are not to be used as performing animals. “All animals are not anatomically designed to be performing animals. Bulls are basically Draught and Pack animals. They are live-stock used for farming and agriculture purposes, like ploughing, transportation etc,” reads the order. One of the key demands of the protesters is that the bull must be removed from that list.

Pro-Jallikattu protesters also claim that no cruelty is meted out to the bulls during the sport. “The bulls are beloved to the farmers who raise them lovingly,” said one protester. “How will the farmer allow the bull to be hurt?”

But the SC has also gone into details of cruelty meted out to these bulls despite the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court allowing the sport in 2012 with severe restrictions on how it should be held. An investigation by the Animal Welfare Board of India, the petitioner before SC, shows that cruelty was indeed perpetrated even after the restrictions by the HC, but that it was simply carried out elsewhere instead of in public view. “Manoj Oswal, Animal Welfare Officer to the Board, submitted the second interim report on 25.1.2012 with regard to the events witnessed at various places like Avaniapuram and Palamedu. The operative portion of the report reads as under:

“While it is not possible to conduct animal sport like Jallikattu without causing trauma and cruelty to animals, it was anticipated that the guidelines and rules would ensure that the cruelty is minimum. The events at the surface looked very organized and orderly but scratching a little below the surface showed that the abuse and violations now have been hidden away from the main arena. The unruly people have been found their own place away from media glare and eyes of Animal Welfare Officers,” it read. The AWBI had filmed videos to back up their claims in court.

The next and possibly most important dissent being raised by the student protesters is that Jallikattu is part of Tamil culture and tradition. The SC Bench heard the Tamil Nadu government extensively on this point and passed the following orders—“Even the ancient culture and tradition do not support the conduct of Jallikattu or Bullock cart race, in the form in which they are being conducted at present. Welfare and the well-being of the bull is Tamil culture and tradition, they do not approve of infliction of any pain or suffering on the bulls, on the other hand, Tamil tradition and culture are to worship the bull and the bull is always considered as the vehicle of Lord Shiva. Yeru Thazhuvu, in Tamil tradition, is to embrace bulls and not overpowering the bull, to show human bravery. Jallikattu means, silver or gold coins tied to the bulls horns and in olden days those who get at the money to the bulls horns would marry the daughter of the owner. Jallikattu or the bullock cart race, as practised now, has never been the tradition or culture of Tamil Nadu,” it says.

And finally, the SC hammers in the last nail in the Jallikattu coffin—that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is a welfare legislation that puts the welfare of animals above culture, tradition and religion in any form. The key point is to prevent “unnecessary suffering” to animals—the Jallikattu bull is exhibiting unnecessary fear and pain inflicted upon it when it comes bounding out into the arena. Is there really such ‘veeram’ (bravado) in frightening and torturing a bull for human entertainment?

Another bizarre notion being put forth by protesters is that the Kangeyam bull, a native breed, will die out unless the ban on Jallikattu is lifted. Students are perhaps unaware that dairy farmers, of their own volition, prefer to buy Jersey cows rather than native breeds since the imported breed produces more milk. And protesting IT professionals would be greatly lauded if they would spend some money adopting and rearing one Kangeyam bull at home, in order to ensure that the breed does not die out.

It is also unclear whether student protesters are aware of the insidious caste inequality and the generational discrimination of Dalits that have become associated with the sport of Jallikattu, conducted and dominated predominantly by the land-owning powerful OBC castes like Thevars.

Students spilling out onto the streets in such a fashion, especially in Tamil Nadu, is a welcome sign. The youth need to be politicised and exert and exercise their rights. But uninformed rebellion is not revolution. Perhaps these students would do well to begin protesting demanding better quality education which would provide them with the necessary knowledge to choose their battles.

Sandhya Ravishankar is an independent journalist based in Chennai. She tweets at @sandhyaravishan