Salem: Villagers in the western parts of the state were defiant of Supreme Court orders banning the conduct of the bull taming sport of jallikattu. Informal events were conducted in many places in the state on Sunday even as police had a tense weekend dealing with several thousand angry people.
The people of five villages near Thammampatti in Salem district organised jallikattu defying the ban. A posse of police personnel was deployed in Thammampatti on the day of ‘Kaanum Pongal’ to prevent the villagers from conducting jallikattu.
Villagers of Nagiampatti, Ulipuram, Keeripatty, Kondayampalli and Moolapudur went ahead and brought their bulls on to the road. The animals were made to run one by one and were tamed by youngsters who were cheered on by people who had gathered to watch. On receiving information, the police rushed to the spot and stopped the event from proceeding further. This triggered mild tension between police and villagers.
In the famous jalliakttu village of Alanganallur in Madurai district, around 5,000 people, including bull owners and tamers, staged a demonstration Sunday, raising slogans against PETA, one of the petitioners on whose plea the Supreme Court last week stayed a central government notification allowing jallikattu, a popular event staged in rural areas during Pongal festivities between January 14-17.
Two photographers beaten up in Krishnagiri district for filming sport
Two photo journalists working for Tamil dailies were beaten up by a group of hoodlums for taking photographs of Eruthattam (bull taming) event held at Kittampatti village, near Krishnagiri. On Sunday, 43-year-old D.G. Moorthi and R.Sudharsan, 38, went to Kittampatti after coming to know about jallikattu being held secretly at the village.
A mob which noticed both of them taking photographs of the event broke their cameras after grabbing the devices from them.
