The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals has hit out against Jallikattu supporters for targeting the organisation.
Said Nikunj Sharma, government affairs liaison officer, PETA, to THE WEEK, “There were six other petitioners who filed a case in the Supreme Court against Jallikattu. PETA was just one among them. Why target us in this manner without understanding the crux of the matter?” Nikunj said that he was getting threatening messages and calls from the supporters of Jallikattu, a kind of bull fighting. “They even abused my family members. Is this the Tamil culture that they are talking about,” asked Nikunj.
According to PETA, it was A. Nagarajan, a Tamil from Madurai, who filed the first case against Jallikattu in the Madras High Court in 2006. This, after his son N. Marimuthu, was trampled by a bull during a Jallikattu event. “When Marimuthu was sketching a picture of a Jallikattu event, one of the bulls pounced on him and he bled to death. All the people were so busy with Jallikattu that nobody could help Marimuthu,” said Nikunj. Soon, the Madras High Court banned Jallikattu. But a few months later, the court allowed Jallikattu with some restrictions.
In 2007, the Animal Welfare Board moved the apex court challenging the Madras High Court order. “We [PETA] came into the picture only in 2011, after we filed a petition challenging the Tamil Nadu Regulation of Jallikattu Act, 2009,” said Nikunj.
In 2014, the Supreme Court banned use of bulls for Jallikattu and said it amounted to treating the animals with cruelty.
Nikunj said that people were scared to say anything against the Supreme Court, and that was the reason why PETA became an easy target.
“The Supreme Court did not overnight take the decision against holding Jallikattu. Different courts had heard the matter for over a decade. The courts had appointed observers who had said that there was inherent cruelty in Jallikattu,” said Nikunj.
PETA will remain committed to the cause of animals that face brutality, said Nikunj.
The Supreme Court on January 20 agreed to the Union government’s request to wait for a week before delivering its verdict on Jallikattu as the government of Tamil Nadu was unable to resolve the deadlock.
