As protests for lifting of the ban on Jallikattu have intensifies across Tamil Nadu.
Various college students in Madurai turned violent while police used lathicharge to take situations under control. The students claimed they were going to the Collector’s office to hand over a plea in favour of Jallikattu. Protestors blame the police for dividing them into groups and making them wait for hours outside the Collector’s office. Some students lost their cool and tried to break the barricades to enter the office. It was then the police lathicharged them to prevent the violence.
“We only wanted to meet the collector. Jallikattu is our tradition, why should they ban it? They have miss understood the sport,” said Nagaraj, a law college student.
Women students too joined the pro-Jallikattu protests in Madurai as they said that a ritual is being banned without checking the ground facts of its existence. Students in Coimbatore also raised slogans outside the Collector’s office seeking lifting of the ban over the sport.
However, amidst the aggravated situation of the state, the Supreme Court said while the draft of the judgment has been prepared, it is not feasible for them to announce a verdict before Saturday when Pongal is set to be celebrated in Tamil Nadu. The apex court, which had first banned the sport in 2014 citing animal cruelty, had upheld the order last year when it dismissed the state government’s review petition.
