VELLORE: The Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum has opposed conducting Bull Races and Jallikattu during which bulls and calves are reportedly tortured. In a statement, honorary secretary of the forum P S Subrahmanian said that it was shocking that three persons were killed during the races. While two persons were killed in Krishnagiri district, another from Vellore died after being injured at a race.Despite safety measures based on Supreme Court and Tamil Nadu government guidelines taken by police and revenue officials, thirty-nine persons were reportedly injured in the Jallikattu held in Madurai district recently. Several incidents of torture involving bulls and calves at these races have also come to the fore. With big money involved in betting, which often happens at these races, it is reported that bulls are fed intoxicants and chilli powder is rubbed into their eyes to spur them to run faster. The committee said that when petitions filed for and against the conduct of Bull races and Jallikattu were heard, it was admitted by the Additional Solicitor General before the Madras High Court Division Bench that the Central Government had in its notification banned animal races in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is not known why Tamil Nadu did not seek to enforce such an order or why the Centre did not implement a ban in other Indian states, Subrahmanian pointed out.The committee also stated that the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), formed in all districts after the enactment of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,1960, and is chaired by district collectors, should have prevented the holding of the recently conducted bull races besides punishing those involved in animal torture. It asked the society to move the Madras High Court seeking a ban on such races in the district besides appealing to the Central and Tamil Nadu governments to ban both bull races and Jallikattu.
Comments
0 comment