Jallikattu

Subject – Governance

Context – Jallikattu banned in many T.N. districts

Concept –

A tradition over 2,000 years old, Jallikattu is a competitive sport as well as an event to honour bull owners who rear them for mating.
It is a violent sport in which contestants try to tame a bull for a prize; if they fail, the bull owner wins the prize.
It is popular in Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Theni, Pudukkottai and Dindigul districts of Tamil Nadu known as the Jallikattu belt.
It is celebrated in the second week of January, during the Tamil harvest festival, Pongal.
Jallikattu is considered a traditional way for the peasant community to preserve their pure-breed native bulls.
- Kangayam, Pulikulam, Umbalachery, Bargur and MalaiMaadu are among the popular native cattle breeds used for Jallikattu. The owners of these premium breeds command respect locally.
In 2014, the Supreme Court banned the bull-taming sport, ruling on a petition that cited the 2011 notification.
- In 2011, the Centre added bulls to the list of animals whose training and exhibition is prohibited.

Current Legal Position on Jallikattu:

The state government has legalised these events, which has been challenged in the court.
In 2018, the Supreme Court referred the Jallikattu case to a Constitution Bench, where it is pending now.
Except in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where bull-taming and racing continue to be organised, these sports remain banned in all other states including Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra due to the 2014 ban order from the Supreme Court.