Mock rekla race takes protests to next level

Close to 10,000 persons thronged CODISSIA ground in Coimbatore on Thursday evening to raise their voice in support of jallikattu and Rekla race. Protestors, mostly college students, answered the call given through the social media and walked from the trade fair complex to Avinashi Road, where they staged a protest. It brought traffic to a standstill. It was a pleasant surprise for the gathering as five pairs of Kangayam bulls ran on the road in a mock Rekla race. The crowds cheered as the speeding bulls galloped past them at top speed. This took the police by surprise as there is a ban on the sport. The protestors also signed a signature campaign in support of the sport.

Meanwhile, projallikattu associations along with bull owners and bull tamers from Suriyur, Karungulam and Periyamilaguparai localities in Tiruchy district staged a demonstration seeking the Central government to ensure the conduct of bull taming event in the ensuing Pongal. Around 300 of them took out a procession from the old Collectorate to the new Collectorate building. They said that absence of jallikattu for the third straight year would wipe out the native bull species from existence. 

“PETA’s reason for seeking a ban on jallikattu by pointing out that animal rights is not true; their hidden agenda is to introduce hybrid cattle targeting the diary industries of the nation. Slogans against PETA were also raised.

In Madurai, students continued their protest for jallikattu on Thursday. They assembled in front of Gandhi Museum and rallied towards the race course. A section of them tied a black cloth around their eyes and raised slogans for jal likattu and to ban PETA. More than 1,000 students including large number of girls participated in the protest and rally. 

At Rameswaram, college students staged a protest for the sport. They condemned the Supreme Court’s statement that it cannot take up the jallikattu case immediately and claimed that they would hold the sport defying the ban. At Karaikudi, cadres of Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) staged a rail roko demanding jallikat tu and condemning the central government for cheating the Tamils.