At least two persons were killed and 28 others injured during Jallikattu held on Sunday in the shadow of widespread protests as an Ordinance failed to end the six-day-long agitation with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam forced to make a retreat without inaugurating the main event at Alanganallur in Madurai following demand for a permanent resolution. A protester, 48-year-old Chandramohan from Jaihindpuram, also died due to dehydration in Madurai city when he was taking part in a demonstration along with students and youths.
The traditional sport was organised in several parts of the State. Protesters at Alanganallur, however, refused to conduct the sport, steadfast in their demand for a “permanent solution” to ensure unhindered annual conduct of the sport. On Marina Beach, the epicentre of the stir for the last six days, protesters continued to stay put demanding a permanent solution for holding the sport besides a ban on animal rights group PETA.
Speaking to reporters at Madurai before leaving for Chennai, Panneerselvam said, “The ban on Jallikattu has been removed completely, the sport will be held at Alanganallur on a date decided by local people…We have taken all measures to conduct the Jallikattu because of the cooperation extended by the Central Government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have also decided to enact a legislation to ensure the trouble-free conducting of Jallikkattu when the Assembly meets on Monday.”
However giving a new twist in the agitation, Jallikattu protests in some places in Tamil Nadu have been hijacked by anti-national and anti-social elements, according to law & order enforcing agencies. Along with placards featuring the pictures of bulls, the larger-than-life pictures of Osama bin laden, Palani Baba (the founder of Al Umma) and V Prabhakaran were exhibited by the crowd on Marina Beach and some other places in Tamil Nadu on Sunday. “This has become an anti-India agitation as the slogans raised by the crowd have nothing to do with the resumption of Jallikattu. The agitation has been hijacked by anti-national elements,” said a senior intelligence official.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Government on Sunday filed a caveat in the Supreme anticipating challenge to its Ordinance allowing Jallikattu in the State.
Following unrelenting protests, the DMK and other Opposition parties urged the Centre to take steps for conducting the sport annually without any hindrance. DMK working president MK Stalin urged the Chief Minister to hold talks with protesters and “stop insisting” that the Ordinance route will yield permanent results.
“Despite its safeguards, an Ordinance that does not enjoy the confidence of people will not yield any practical results. Therefore, the Chief Minister should stop insisting that the Ordinance route is permanent and talk to the protesting youths and explain to them the State Government’s efforts for a permanent solution to the matter and pacify them,” he said.
BJP leader and Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan urged the protesters to withdraw their agitation across the State, including on the Marina Beach. Meanwhile, animal rights group PETA faced more flak over its opposition to Jallikattu. After top Tamil film actors Suriya and Vijay, veteran star Kamal Haasan slammed the NGO.