India’s PM overturns court ban on bull-wrestling

Chennai // The south Indian state of Tamil Nadu lifted a supreme court ban on a popular bull-wrestling festival on Saturday after prime minister Narendra Modi ordered that the event should be allowed to go ahead.

Mr Modi overturned the ban on the festival after massive protests by demonstrators who called the court’s ruling an attack on their culture.

India’s supreme court outlawed the bull-wrestling Jallikattu festival last year after a plea by animal-rights groups, which have long accused participants in the event – held annually across Tamil Nadu – of cruelty to the animals.

Tensions had escalated in recent days as thousands of demonstrators gathered in state capital Chennai and other cities to demand that the ban on Jallikattu be lifted.

The growing protests prompted Tamil Nadu’s chief minister to travel to Delhi to ask Mr Modi to overturn the ban, which he did late on Friday.

Tamil Nadu’s governor then promulgated the executive order Saturday evening, paving the way for Jallikattu to resume on Sunday.

“Tamil Nadu governor Vidyasagar Rao approves Jallikattu ordinance,” the state’s ruling AIADMK party posted on Twitter.

Crowds in Chennai erupted in joy, waving, giving the thumbs up and flashing peace signs as the news came in.

State chief minister O Panneerselvam is set to kick off the traditional contest Sunday morning.

“Honourable CM Thiru O Panneerselvam thanks the students, women and the public who staged agitations across the state to protect our culture,” the AIADMK said.

In Jallikattu, young men try to grab the bulls by their sharpened horns or jump on their backs. Unlike in traditional Spanish bullfighting, the animals are let loose in open fields where the men compete to subdue them bare-handed.

Critics say organisers lace the bulls’ feed with liquor to make them less steady on their feet and throw chilli powder in their faces to send them into a sudden frenzy as they are released from a holding pen.

Organisers of the centuries-old festival insist the animals suffer no harm, calling the event an established part of Tamil culture.

* Agence France-Presse