Jan

15

Supreme Court lifts ban on bullfighting, for now

January 15, 2008 posted by indiatime |

India’s Supreme Court, which had recently upheld a ban on the sport of Jallikattu (Indian version of encierro - runnning of the bulls in Spain), has now relented and allowed Jallikattu, atleast for the 4-day Pongal celebrations that start India’s south today.

Jallikattu, however, differs from the running of the bulls (encierro) in some ways:

1. In Jallikattu, if a bull slips or slides, it is not sacrificed later. So, unlike the Spanish version in Pamplona, the Indian version is less cruel.

2. Jallikattu is an ancient sport, going back much further than the Spanish tradition. Ancient bull-chasing paintings in India’s Nilgiri mountain caves have been dated to about 2000 BC. Pamplona, in Spain, started as a military camp for Roman army around 75 BC, so the Spanish tradition in Pamplona is comparatively more recent.

3. Jallikattu means bull-baiting or bullfighting. The original versions of the sport were manju virattu (bull-chasing) or eruthu kattuthal (bull-lassoing), but somewhere in recent history, Jallikattu became synonymous with the January celebrations of Pongal.

Supreme Court’s reprieve for the bullfighting sport comes under a few conditions that have been put in to ensure the safety of the bulls.

1. The court has put the onus of the safety of the spectators as well as the animals on the authorities,

2. The entire bullfighting event must be recorded on camera.

3. The officials of the animal welfare board will have to witness the event (this looks more like a punishment to those officials though)

4. Organizations that intend to host the bullfight will have to inform the authorities at least 3 days in advance. (Not sure how this works for this year, since the bullfight events start today)

5. After the bullfight, the district collector must prepare a bullfight report (Not sure if the collector is supposed to write this report as a sportscaster or an event review of sorts)

The new guidelines aren’t that restrictive, but the court, it seems has tried to set some precedence, considering there wasn’t any before. The event is a big draw for the tourists and the local economies, and the court probably had to relent because of those issues. There are better alternatives to bullfighting, as several people around the worls have already shown for last 5-6 years, especially this one where people, instead of bulls, run naked on the streets. Something tells me that Goa may start this alternative festival any time soon.


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3 Comments so far

  1. A Desi Pamplona | DesiPundit on January 15, 2008 7:21 pm

    [...] with India’s bullish market then you might be happy to note that the Supreme Court has lifted the ban on bull fighting (where is [...]

  2. Jam on January 16, 2008 2:53 pm

    Not too sure if the naked runs will pull in any decent sort of audience in India. It’s bad enough that fully dressed women get molested in India, I can’t even imagine what would happen if and when women decide to participate in a Naked Run in India.

  3. Bullfighting is an Indian tradition « A wide angle view of India on February 18, 2008 8:59 am

    [...] in India. Some sources say that bull-fighting in India is about 400 years old, which makes it older than the tradition in Spain. But actually bull-fighting (man against bull) goes back to pre-historic [...]

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