Bull**** over bull fights...can we ban horse racing then?

For the second year running, Tamil Nadu has ‘celebrated’ (‘observed’, if you ask the affected) the harvest festival of Pongal without the traditional “Jallikattu”, a ‘sport’ where bulls are ‘tamed’. A loaded statement, if you see the number of words in inverted commas!

 

(image source:www.maduraitravelclub.com)

The tradition of Jallikattu extends to many years, the days of yore when taming a bull was considered a ‘macho’ thing. It still is, in the interior parts of the state. In many states, actually. Taming a wild bull is appreciated as a display of masculinity.

The Supreme Court, on a petition from animal rights activists has gone ahead and banned the sport. The petition cited that "In just four years, from 2010 to 2014, approximately 1,100 injuries to humans were reported by the media as a result of cruel and dangerous jallikattu-type events and 17 people died..." It is no secret that there are injuries caused to the bulls - the way some of them are prepared for the event is itself not for the weak-hearted.

We come once again to the agenda of the animal rights activists and their point of view.

What about the slaughter of innumerable goats, chicken and bulls / buffaloes at abattoirs? Where are these activists when these things happen? What about the matadors who impale the bulls in bullfighting contests in Spain? There is an allegation that the only duty of the Animal Welfare Board in India is its arm twisting when it comes to providing certificates for animals to be used in movies.

The impact on the economy and the lives of people who are dependent on this sport needs to be taken into account while arriving at a decision on the ‘sport’. In fact, banning the sport has an impact on the animals too. These animals are bred and made to live a life which they would not be otherwise provided. Now they head straight to the abattoirs!

There needs to be a balance between tradition and banning such conventions. Where these things are part of conventions and life as such, a ban should be something that is thought of before a judgement is delivered. Why not adopt a middle path? Allow this with conditions? With neutral observers?

Can we ban horse racing? Why don’t we do it? Why should horses be made to race? Isn’t it a form of cruelty? Many horses are castrated so that their masculinity is ‘diverted’ to running the race. In many cases the horses which lose the race are shot and killed. Which law says that you can use an animal for racing but cannot use another for another sport? Who are the observers who lord over horse racing? And pray, where are these animal rights activists when horses thunder in the Guindy, Mahalaxmi, Ooty and other race courses in the country? One rule for the rich and another for the rest? The law bans certain animals like bulls as 'performing animals'. When horses are used to race, aren't they 'performing'?

I am a vegetarian but I know that the world is predominantly non-vegetarian. How do we get the animals to our plate? Do we wait for them to die because of natural causes and then cook and eat them? One visit to a slaughter house and you may never eat meat again. For example, take chicken, which is the most commonly consumed non-vegetarian item in India - how are these chicken grown for food? How are their necks wrung so as to kill them and de-feather them? Do you know that when they are dumped in boiling water, many of them are still alive? Fish? Aren't we 'killing' them before eating them? So are the activists, who would also be predominantly non-vegetarian, going to ban non-vegetarian food as well ?  

India, nay, the world, has never been kind to animals. We will never be. It arises to the primary nature of existence – the fitter survives. It is the cycle of life. The finest things in this world come from man’s greed and his way of showing superiority over animals – from food to wool, leather etc. How many people use faux stuff?

Let rationality creep in, please.