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.
As Tamil Nadu celebrates the historic verdict, here’s a look at how the Congress derogated Jallikattu and was instrumental in getting the sport banned.
1. Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) 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.
2. Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, welcomed the Supreme Court’s ban on Jallikattu in 2014 and called it a barbaric sport. In fact, it was during his stint as the Environment Minister that he banned Jallikattu by adding bull to the list of animals prohibited for ‘performance’.
3. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, another spokesperson of the Congress, appeared as an advocate for the petitioners seeking a ban on Jallikattu, and openly stated that Jallikattu was a ‘horrible’ sport.
4. Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor back in 2015 called Jallikattu as cruel.
1/2 BJP trying to score political points in Tamil Nadu by reversing progress on stopping cruel jallikattu, deviously circumventing SC ruling
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) December 31, 2015
5. A Time of India report dated April 27, 2016 states that the party had called for a ban on Jallikattu in its 2016 election manifesto. Zee News too reported on the same date quoting ANI that the party promised to completely ban Jallikattu if it comes to power. India Today too reported that the Congress in its manifesto has ‘promised prohibition on Jallikattu’. However, in 2021 when Rahul Gandhi was due to visit Tamil Nadu to participate in a Jallikattu event, the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) has been caught red-handed fudging its 2016 Assembly election manifesto to whitewash its stance on Jallikattu.
6. In January 2017, when the pro-Jallikattu protests was taking the state by storm, 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.
7. Former Congress Minister Jayanthi Natarajan too speaking to a Tamil TV channel conceded that Congress was responsible for Jallikattu ban.
Former Congress Minister Jayanthi Natarajan concedes Congress was responsible for #JallikattuBan ! Rahul Gandhi not only aided murders of Sri Lankan Tamils but also made sure Tamil culture, tradition is wiped off. Its time Tamils unitedly say #GoBackRahul who banned #Jallikattu ! pic.twitter.com/u1dkfKXEA3
— SG Suryah (@SuryahSG) March 13, 2019
8. Congress party was one of the petitioners calling for the Ban on Jallikattu but was recently defeated by BJP Candidate Thiru CK Ramamurthy avl in the Jayanagar constituency in the Karnataka assembly elections.
This being the Congress’s track-record on Jallikattu, it was ironical for Rahul Gandhi to come to Madurai and witness Jallikattu in January 2021.
On the other, it was the Modi Government which had restored the Tamil pride by revoking the ban on Jallikattu.
In January 2016, the Modi government, published a gazette notification allowing Jallikattu but, the Supreme Court stayed the government order enabling the continuation of the ban.
After the stay of government order by Supreme Court, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requested the then AIADMk government in Tamil Nadu to pass an ordinance.
In 2017, the Modi government clears ordinance passed by Tamil Nadu govt that allowed the bull-taming sport.
While the UPA government (Congress and DMK) banned Jallikattu the Modi government at the Centre and AIADMK gave justice to Tamils.
(SG Suryah is the State Secretary of BJP Tamil Nadu.)
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