The passion for bullfights is yet to die in this State that was known for its Iberian influences. Nearly two decades after a Supreme Court ban resulted in the sport going underground, and several failed attempts to get them legalised again, a BJP MlA has now called for the sport to be regularised citing a Supreme Court order that allowed fight between animals provided none of them is injured.
locally called dhirio, the sport involved two muscular specially-bred bovines head-butt brutally each other to the cheers of thousands usually in dried-up fields in the summer, often goes on for hours until one bull decides flight is the best option.
The ruling MlA, Vishnu Wagh said that owing to strict policing in the State, the fights moved to neighbouring rural and border areas of Maharashtra where the policing isn’t so strict.
“Dhirio should be revived at the earliest. Thousands of Goans are going to Maharashtra for bullfights. It used to be a tradition here,” Wagh said.
The fights were banned in Goa after a ban on it by the High Court in the late 1990s.
“It will be a good source of income for the Government and can be seen from a tourism perspective too,” Wagh said.
In his reply, Parrikar said he wasn’t aware if there was any such order, but that he would explore the option.