Do you pluck your eye if a dust particle falls in it? No. But if you believe in PETA Activists, that is the way to go w.r.t Jallikattu, an ancient Tamil tradition. Like their environmentalist comrades who wanted to ban TATA Nano to address the problem of lack of mass transit system in metro cities, the PETA activists wanted to ban Jallikattu to stop cruelty of animals. If they really wanted to stop cruel practices like spraying chili powder in the eyes of bulls or giving it local brew, they should ensure legal mechanisms to prevent these cruel practices rather than asking for an outright ban of Jallikattu. [But Kumaraguru even disagrees with the claim of cruelty to animals in Jallikattu in his Economic Times article - Ban on Jallikattu]In their passion for preventing cruelty to animals, PETA activists cross the fine line of intrusion into another man's beliefs and customs. They are right in believing that animals should not be tortured in the name of a sport. But what they don't understand is that Bull Chasing is an ancient tamil tradition/sport that has survived for 3500 years. And it is very much part of Tamil culture. To the extent, that any Tamil movie set in the rural villages of Tamilnadu is incomplete without a 'Jallikattu' scene. Also Jallikattu could bring in much needed Tourism revenues to the arid & dry southern parts of Tamilnadu. So Please don't ban Jallikattu citing sporadic cases of animal cruelty.
6 comments:
Hi Robin, my old friend, last time we had few cross-comments regarding food in indore...i hope u got me now..
Ok so when i saw ur blog on 'Jallikattu', there was a happy feeling inside me that this is the perfect time to reply(hammer) you....because somehow I, you and everyone knows Jallikattu's disadvantages over its religious/historical/"ethical" values.
How can a responsible (to be) MANAGER like you can request to unban Jallikattu. Even you know that it is time to show some 'humanness' to animals...
Even you, instead of making a strong statement, softly requests for the unban,because u know its not right.
Why animal sacrifice was banned from Hindu worships???? I am a Hindu and I say that such ancient traditions should be left/modified with TIME...broaden up your mentality and accept new world. And lastly, dont blame PETA activists for their (violent) activities, most of there claims regarding Jallikattu may be true from there experience of bull fighting from other countries.
Wishing the win of Mankind
Regards,
MADHUR
@ Maddy,
Nice to know that u r following my blog.. still remember u.. hope u r doing good..
Yeah! PETA activists have some amount of truth in stating that some of the animals suffer torture... My argument is that let us find out whether benefits like tourism potential, tradition, fun, etc.. outweigh the costs of Jallikattu before banning it...
Yeah animal sacrifice has been banned from temples, but still thousands of animals are killed daily for human consumption. Except for a few PETA activists, none will ask for a ban for this... (Remember, a lot of animals go through a prolonged period of torture before getting killed).. In a similar way, ban on jallikatu does not make sense to me..
Robin I don't know but hats off for "expressing" something on behalf of 7 crore Tamils, even if you can't "unpress" real chauvinists living in a time warp! For your info, here's what I wrote to ET on the title itself of Kamaraguru's article:
The heading of the story should have been “Ban on Jallikattu: A mindless interference by SC” How shameful that nobody raises a voice against such enslaving attempts by the cowbelt gang! This paper, member of the so-call free press, did not have the guts to carry my below comments even as with a disclaimer!
The comment posted earlier and not carried:
Mercifully, the SC realized, albeit rather late in the day, to lay off. Had it persisted with its folly of banning jallikattu, TN and India would have witnessed a replay of the turmoil that ensued upon Delhi's attempt to impose Hindi in preference to their 'barbaric' language!
There are spheres where courts have no business to meddle, lest the judiciary lose what little respect it commands. By conniving with Animal Welfare Board of India, whose HQ must be in a cow-belt State rather than Chennai, the SC did not paint itself with glory.
When will the powers that be in Delhi (including judicial 'powers') reckon that India is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and EVEN MULTINATIONAL society like the EU? Can it survive as an entity if a dominant section tries to impose its own values on any region? Maybe jallikattu is 'barbaric' as these worthies believe, (which can be said about kite flying, boxing & wrestling, Kali worship in Kolkata, Bakr-Id or even soccer.) But then, traditional practices can never be tackled through lawcourts.
Let the protagonists preach their doctrines (which are perhaps noble) rather than attempt to forcibly 'civilize' the society at large. For example, people who equate beef-eaters with cannibals may be right. But the elitists cannot impose their values on everyone. AWBI is a typical, redundant government outfit that is known as cat's paw of hollow elitists only for its nuisance value, rather than for achieving anything so far.
@ Sampath,
I agree with most of your views regarding this issue (though not the tone) except for the statement that
"TN and India would have witnessed a replay of the turmoil that ensued upon Delhi's attempt to impose Hindi in preference to their 'barbaric' language!"...
We, the Tamils have changed a lot in the intermediate period and don't have the vigor and passion to protect the uniqueness of Tamil culture and language any more.. :)
- Robin
Hi again,
Sorry for late response. I usually get to your blog through blog alert for indore.
I could not write further both by myself and in reply to your response, mainly because when I discussed abt Jllikattu with few of my fellows here , and when I thought again at it, it came out to be a classical vegetarian versus non- vegetarinas feud.
U may cant see the direct link between the two, but I always opposed the barbarism and torture to any species whether lower than us or same ( cannibals:: some one just said they are no different than non-vegs). So, my point is that such activities should be discouraged ( not saying 'BANNED' for the sake of 7 cr 'humans' ) whether it is taking place in Kolkata, AP or at Id. And it directly implies to my opposition to non-veg. Well I dont want to get into this debate again.
So, what is left for me to say is that please do not take SC's (suo motu) interference as political. I dont know about anyone's polotical motive behind that but I always believe that "an orthodox mind can not make society any better, only a open and flexible one can do so"
So,lets make world a better place
(.........for pity animals also)
Bye,
MADDY
@ Maddy,
You nailed the issue correctly.. People have difference opinions on animals mainly because of the different cultural orientations they have towards the environment around them. For example.. non-veg camp(using ur words) generally believe in the mastery of the environment(animals & plants) while the other camp believes in harmony with the environment..
There is no right or wrong in this issue.. People are entitled to have their own opinion..
Right path of action is "Agreeing to disagree"... :)
Post a Comment