The bull is not a demonstrative animal. It does its work and prefers to be left alone. It knows that it is born to serve and be a slave to the wretched human race but does so without a complaint, though in many cases it is flogged, forced to carry loads much above its capacity. Finally, unable to work any more, it is left to die of starvation or consigned to the butcher’s knife at the abattoir. The bull deserves a better fate.
Some of the ‘special quality and high breed’ bulls serve a different purpose. Of late, their pictures have been appearing in newspapers, showing them as healthy, hefty animals surrounded by screaming, howling mobs. They tease and frighten the bulls by pulling their tails and harassing the animals. Normally placid animals, the bulls feel trapped and frightened and charge madly at the rowdy mob playing hide and seek with them. People run away to escape their sharp horns and thundering hoofs.
This is the notorious ‘Jallikattu’ hailed as a test of endurance and valour for Tamil Nadu and meant to uphold those hated words: ‘tradition and culture’. The ‘battle’ between man and beast is totally one sided. Hundreds of excited drunk youths screaming their heads off and carrying makeshift hidden weapons plunge among the bulls scaring and wounding them.
Jallikattu became an integral part of Pongal, one of the Tamil festivals filled with joy and the state’s rich cultural tradition. But there is a dark spot. The smaller regions to the southern part of the state reared bulls, fed them special diets and trained them to fight. Often the bulls are made to drink alcohol. Some of the vicious bull owners, to make their animals more vicious, sprinkle chilli powder on their faces. In a blind rage as their tails are twisted and pulled, the animals go berserk. Unlike the Spanish bull fight where the matador tackled it by spearing it or getting killed in the process, the Indian version was clearly nothing short of mass bull torture with people pouncing on the hapless animal, bringing it down and killing it.
Popularity in its wake gets commercial interests running. The huge crowds at Jallikattu could not escape this. Huge amounts of merchandise, both rural and urban, were sold in markets. Everyone was quick to collect a buck. Hundreds of expensive items were advertised and offered to the crowds. “I Love Jallikattu’ became the slogan of the day. Under all this sloganeering and semi-religious frenzy, the plight of the victims was quickly forgotten.
Pet culture has not caught up in India; there is no love for animals seeking food and shelter. In the recent Tamil Nadu rain havoc, residents were quick to abandon their pets.
Stray dogs are a nuisance and dangerous at times. But recently in Dahisar, 25 stray dogs were found poisoned to death. No one seemed to care. These animals become liabilities and have to be abandoned. Despite all the ballyhoo over animal welfare and beef ban, cows that stop yielding milk either starve to death or are killed clandestinely for meat or hide. In the interiors of Tamil Nadu, people are paid big money to breed and train cocks to kill and let them loose on rival cocks, all in the name of sport. A winning rooster can earn 10 times its cost or die in this cruel sport. When the Supreme Court stood firm in banning the bloody bull fights, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa attacked the Centre and the Court for the decision and urged an Ordinance permitting the cruel sport. This was the brave ‘Tamil spirit’.
The Centre found itself toeing the Jaya-led AIADMK line on most regional issues.The earlier governments lacked such frenzy. But in the DMK-AIADMK duel where no questions were asked, even bulls and their strength mattered. The judiciary was dragged into the issue and it puzzled over the issue of whether Tamil culture and tradition mattered more than bull strength. The judgements could not agree to this point of view despite public demos and threat of ‘private’ bull fights.
Finally a herd of bulls may have to decide who wielded real power in the state. Had Shakespeare been alive, he would have rewritten the lines from ‘King Lear’ as: As bulls are to wanton Tamils, so are they to gods; they kill us for their pleasure.
Also Read:
