An attempt by Tamil Nadu minister C Vijaya Baskar, in the Edappadi K Palaniswamy government, to create a world record in Jallikattu in his home district ended in a tragedy on Sunday as two spectators were gored to death by bulls while 40 persons were injured. The gory incident happened within minutes of Chief Minister Palaniswamy, who inaugurated the event at Viralimalai in Puthukotta district, declaring that Jallikattu was Tamil Nadu’s sport of valour. Baskar has plans to make Viralimalai Jallikattu an annual event.
A Ramu, a 32-year-old spectator, and G Satish (35), a bull owner, were gored to death while 40 persons were injured during the sport on Sunday. The event was organised by controversial health minister Vijaya Baskar, who hails from the district and owns costly bulls.
It may be recalled that Baskar’s home and offices were raided twice by the Income Tax department in the run-up to the April 2017 R K Nagar bypoll and seized unaccounted cash worth crores of rupees and incriminating documents.
On Sunday, Baskar announced that the Viralimalai Jallikattu would be a regular feature in Tamil Nadu’s sporting calendar. A record number of 1,353 bulls and 700 tamers took part in the event.
More than 300 persons had been injured in various Jallikkattu events which commenced after the Pongal festivities of this year. These are the first fatalities of the 2019 Jallikkattu season which is expected to last up to September. The year 2018 saw 32 persons getting gorred to death by bulls. (Unofficial figures put the figure at 68). More than 20 bulls got killed in last year’s event.
According to sources, some of the kel kunnathu venues are now aiming and attempting at entering the Guinness World Records!
“Jallikattu stands out as a symbol of Tamil’s valour. By conducting such a grand event Viralimalai has grabbed a place in the list ofJallikattu-famed places like Alanganallur, Palamedu and Avaniyapuram,” said the chief minister while inaugurating the event.
Antony Rubin, an animal rights activist who has been waging a legal battle against the sport pointed out that the exact number of persons killed in the bull-taming event would never be known. “We saw two persons getting killed at Viralimalai.
The fate of those persons who have been admitted to hospitals would never be known as these events take place in remote villages. The attention of the media as well as the officials shift to the next location and Viralimalai is forgotten,” said Rubin.
The SC is hearing a batch of petitions filed by animal rights activist pleading for a ban on the event, described as sport of death. Though a division bench of the apex court had banned the event, the Tamil Nadu government got the court order nullified by enacting a law in the Legislative Assembly in January 2017 and making the Centre promulgate an ordinance.