It has not been long since AIADMK General Secretary and Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami referred to the actors who were vocal during the previous ADMK regime but conspicuously silent on various socio-political issues during the DMK regime. Suriya Sivakumar, one of the actors mentioned indirectly by Edappadi K Palaniswami in his speech, has now credited (albeit indirectly) the DMK government for Supreme Court’s verdict on Jallikattu.
The Supreme Court of India on 18 May 2023 dismissed the petitions challenging the law permitting Jallikattu, the bull-taming sport that is seen as an integral part of Tamil culture.
The Constitution bench upheld the validity of amendments made by Tamil Nadu to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA Act).
This judgement has put the final nail in the coffin for the attempts by PETA India and Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) in getting the Tamil sport banned.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of which DMK was part of showed great interest in banning Jallikattu. In fact, on December 15, 2015, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote a letter to the Human Society International, an organization similar to PETA, voicing his strong opposition to Jallikattu. Not only did he say that this most ‘horrible’ form of entertainment be not promoted, but he also wished the organization success in their goal of banning it.
Then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh had banned Jallikattu by adding bull to the list of animals prohibited for ‘performance’. He had welcomed the Supreme Court’s ban on Jallikattu in 2014 and called it a barbaric sport.
In fact, the Congress party (of which Suriya’s sister-in-law Nagma is a member) had called for a ban on Jallikattu in its 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly election manifesto. The National Herald, the mouthpiece of the Congress, published an article criticizing the protests in a slanderous manner saying that Tamil men used the protests to ‘assert their manhood’ after feeling emasculated under the iron-fist rule of later former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
However “actor” Surya, who has remained silent on the recent hooch tragedy and also on all socio-political issues that have occurred during the DMK government, has come forward to indirectly praise the DMK government, despite the fact that history reveals that the DMK-Congress government is the reason for the ban on Jallikattu.
Surya said in a tweet praising the state governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, that is the DMK and the Congress, “Happy and proud to note the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s ruling, upholding Jallikattu that’s integral to our Tamil culture & Kambala to Kannada culture! Hearty congratulations to both State Governments and respect to all those who fought consistently against the ban.”
Happy and proud to note the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s ruling, upholding #Jallikattu that’s integral to our Tamil culture & #Kambala to Kannada culture!
Hearty congratulations to both State Governments and respect to all those who fought consistently against the ban.…— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) May 19, 2023
Suriya omitted the ADMK, which passed the ordinance in support of Jallikattu, as well as the Central BJP government, which approved the ordinance.
Many on social media called out the hypocrisy of Suriya for acting like a propagandist of DMK.
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