London/Colombo : Protests demanding lifting of the ban on bull-taming sport ‘jallikattu’ have spread to beyond India with the Tamil diaspora in Sri Lanka, Britain and Australia holding demonstrations.
Hundreds of UK-based Indian Tamils have come together to organise a series of protests in favour of Jallikattu this week in London and across the UK. The protest group includes London Tamil Sangam, World Tamil Organisation and British South Indians.
They held protests outside the Indian High Commission in London on Tuesday and Wednesday. Protests are also planned in the city of Leeds in England and Dublin in Ireland. “Hundreds have been turning out to highlight that Jallikattu is part of our tradition and identity. We are also working on a major hunger-strike this weekend to raise awareness around the issue in the UK. We are expecting over 1,000 people to join that protest,” a spokesperson for the protest group told PTI.
The protesters have been carrying placards and chanting slogans in Tamil like, ‘We need Jallikattu’ and ‘Jallikattu is our identity’.
The group has also prepared a petition for the Indian High Commission, which reads, “We, Indians living in the UK, have consistently shown our support to the conduct of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu. We are gathered here to morally support our brothers and sisters that are leading the peaceful protestations in Alanganallur, Madurai district of Tamil Nadu.”
Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, protest was held in the Tamil minority dominated northern capital of Jaffna, on Wednesday. Hundreds of people held placards saying ‘Why ban it when it is our culture’ and ‘This is a valued tradition lets permit it’.–PTI