The protests against the Jallikattu Ban

This morning as I was musing on the current protests at Marina beach have grown over the past week and I was wondering why this never happened for other issues relating to the plight women of this state.

My facebook wall erupted into a debate. I decided to make my way to Marina beach to see them for myself instead of fighting with facebook acquaintances.

Since Sunday, students from across the city (and state ) have gathered on the beach — day & night with slogans for saving the sport which was banned by the Supreme Court. At a glance, it was well organized. Volunteers were managing traffic. There was food & water being distributed and the police seemed to have it under control (the poor guys just dont get a break in Chennai!) . There was piles of garbage everywhere but nothing out of the ordinary.

The pressure is now mounting on newly crowned Sasikala aka Chinnamma and the CM OPS to bring back the traditional sport which has been part of rural Tamil culture for centuries. Jallikattu is an ancient sport. However, PETA & and the Animal Welfare Board had petitioned that there were several instances of cruelty on the bulls. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the bulls and banned the sport a few years ago.

But, every year there has been growing unrest against this ruling. This year however, there seems to have been a tipping point for a lot of people who see this as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Issues highlighted ranged from Jayalalitha’s mysterious death & the take over by Sasikala, the LTTE, and the Cauvery water issue. Calls were being made for a Tamil Eelam (a separate state) if Jallikattu is not allowed.

While I dont agree with the issue at hand i.e somehow this law was an attack on Tamil culture, the one positive I drew from the whole thing was that the students in Tamil Nadu can be politically involved (I’d never witnessed this before). One more thing, we are safe from the orange bang-wagon which is trying very very hard to fill in the gap left behind by a missing Amma.