Cockfights

Subject – Governance

Context – Despite ban, cockfights organised in A.P

Concept –

A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years.
Cockfighting in India primarily takes place in January, coinciding with Makar Sankranti.
The practice is widespread in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, including Krishna, Guntur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts, despite being illegal in India.
Fights between birds such as junglefowls and roosters are said to have been arranged in ancient India as a mode of entertainment. It is recorded that the outcome of the Battle of Palnadu (1178–1182) was decided by a rooster fight, following which cockfighting gained foothold in Andhra Pradesh.
In the present day, cockfighting takes place in Andhra Pradesh and other parts of India such as Telangana, Karnataka, and Odisha.
Roosters are specially bred for cockfights, with knives and blades tied to their legs. The fight typically results in the death of one of the birds.
Cockfighting has been illegal in India since the enactment of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in 1960.
- Subsequent judgements by the Supreme Court of India in 2015, and the Hyderabad High Court in 2016, upheld the ban.
- In January 2018, the Supreme Court allowed the sport to be held in a traditional way, without the use of knives and blades and without gambling or betting.
Despite the ban, cockfighting is still popular in Andhra Pradesh.