I’m not happy with such a sport and I’m dismayed by the turn of the events on both sides.

However, I can sort of live with such a sport as there are much bigger animal cruelty battles
to be fought. Since people feel so strongly, it is probably unwise to ban now and let it run
with restrictions. Someday we can have a more rigorous debate on this when the passions
cool.

The narrative about the Jallikattu protests have been that there is no room for two opinions
in Tamil Nadu right now. People’s passions and angers are whipped up. Even superstars like
Rajnikanth couldn’t refrain from giving their “approval”. You cannot stay silent, but give an
opinion, you cannot give any opinion but only positive and you cannot give it anytime but
now. Viva la democracia!

1. It is fine to fight for one’s culture. But, people have unfortunately turned their
anger on PETA, PFA, AWBI and other animal rights organizations. They see these
organizations as somehow paid to destroy Tamil culture. They forget that PETA
also fights against bull/rodeo fighting in Spain  [1]& US [2], besides against all kinds
of such animal fighting & cruelty around the world. That is how many such
activities are banned/regulated in India and abroad.
2. Tamil Nadu is not the only state in the union whose tradition is being
questioned. Courts have long ago banned bull fighting in Goa and other places [3] .
Animal fighting in a lot of the states are being banned and a lot of other activities
involving animals - such as Pooram festival in Thrissur is under the scanner [4]. If
we make an exemption to Tamil Nadu, what happens to all other such “sports” and
activities that people have worked so hard to eradicate?
3. PETA has been fighting against authority, corporations and traditions
everywhere. It has had successes in various parts. Including in the US. Locations
with Prohibitions or Restrictions on Rodeos or Rodeo Events. And there are new
rules in works in Spain. Spain considers new ‘bullfighting lite’ rules
4. And it is not just animal rights. It was a man from Madurai [Nagarajan] who
first led the battle to ban [5] . He knew the tradition and even lost a son to the event.
His son Marimuthu was merely sketching the event in spectator’s stand when a
bull crashed into his stand and gored him. Along with PETA, should we ban such
petitioners too? Even yesterday, a few died and others seriously injured in a
Jallikattu event [6]. It remains as one of the most dangerous sporting events. Should
not the courts and society worry about it?
5. People say the “bull hugging” will be done with safety norms [without all the
cruelty of lime juice and chilli powder thrown on]. These might be only a minority
and the majority loved their bulls. However, it is up to the majority to make sure
their love for their bulls is maintained by everyone. But, such an assurance has
been given in the past and the events still had those things. This is the reason for
the court to take a more active stand. The 3-judge bench were not stupid, you
know.
6. If we openly flout the judgement of the Supreme Court and having a large
number of protestors are enough to ignore courts, are we effectively asking for
 lawlessness? In the name of tradition if some other group wants to bring an
unconstitutional tradition back to life [we had many such in our past] should that
be possible? In fact, James Madison and other scholars have exactly feared about
this kind of democracy [7].
7. The protests are also being used by some to attack the Indian union. People
have talked about boycotting the Republic day and so on. It was not the court in
Delhi, but a court in Madurai that first banned the sport. Lawyer reminisces the
day jallikattu was banned first
8. Regardless of its merits, the protests have been getting out of hand that the
rational people who originally started the protests are getting out of it. Hip Hop
Tamizha Adhi distances from Jallikattu protests, says it has lost direction. The
turn of events is quite expected and happened the same in other mass protests too.
The longer a protest grows without leadership, the more garbled it gets. Also
reminds me why Mahatma Gandhi pulled off the Non-Cooperation movement
after Chauri Chaura . Revolutions and people’s movements can be very dangerous
- if done to subvert the rule of law.
9. And for all their claims, the protests have not been really non-violent. Beyond
the incidents above, the protestors have been mercilessly trolling people didn’t
share their opinion. PeTA CEO Poorva Joshipura and Actress Trisha de-activated
their Social accounts after toxic attacks by Jallikattu Supporters. Even my friends,
some of whom CEOs have been behaving unprofessional the past few days.
A lot of the anger and outbursts in Tamil Nadu stem from the sudden demise of Jayalalitha.
In her regime such protests would not have been done. As the state is run headless, people
are venting a frustration on a lot of things.

There were also plenty of other claims raised in this issue, for which there are no satisfactory
answers.

1. Is the claimed A2 milk less dangerous than the more common A1 milk? I didn’t
find enough evidence for it. Here is a Nature’s review on the topic and they didn’t
find enough evidence either [8] .
2. Assuming that the A2 milk is more healthier than A1 milk, is there evidence that
our Tamil Nadu cows have that gene? I didn’t find any such study besides one
stating that some native breeds of Africa and India have them.
3. Assuming that our cows have that gene and that gene is beneficial, is there
evidence that Jallikattu will protect those genes? We have had such a sport for a
long time, but the native breeds are still dwindling in TN and elsewhere. The
reason is not in culture, but in economics. Native breeds produce less milk than
imported breeds. Until this economic issue is handled, native breeds will go out
with or without a sport. If we want to protect the biodiversity - we have a broad
battle to fight.
4. Merely having a bull run excited alone and going untamed is not a scientific way
to breed healthy cows. Breeding cows is a science and in a lot of the world
[including in a lot of Tamil Nadu] it happens without any such fights. Here is the
science on protecting indigenous breeds: From Jellicut to jallikattu.
Ultimately, it is not a question of protecting specific breeds or getting a specific milk. But,
more of protecting a cultural tradition. For a lot of present issues, we have been giving the
defense of tradition. Whether it is the women entry into Haji Ali and Sabarimala or issue of
triple talaq, the traditionalists have been fighting the courts using ancient logic. But, I
personally don’t accept such a defense of tradition in any of these cases. Traditions are nice
as long as they don’t violate basic principles.

We can always alter traditions a bit. The Sangam era Tamils loved their bulls and protected
them. Maybe that is the real tradition and we can innovate an alternative mechanism to
show the love and protect the diversity. Maybe our modern men can use other sports like
football to show their valor and not be forced into excessive danger to score. If we can
organize such big crowds, can we also provide alternative ways to fund these precious bulls
without goring ourselves and the bulls?

And turn on the news now. Watch what the various vested interests are doing in the pretext
of people protest. Should we become a pawn in a big powerplay? If you really care about the
bulls and biodiversity, you can easily find a middle ground with animal lovers and animal
rights groups.

You have got the ordinance you wanted. It is time to come back to normal