[Photo courtesy - Deccan Herald]Nanditha Krishna seizes the opportunity to explain what it means to be cultured - The New Sunday Express, January 21st 2007
(The article was written in response to Mr. Jayakumar’s article which indirectly supported Jallikattu, the Indian version of Bull fighting, identifying it with Tamil culture & history – Editor’s – my note)
What is “Tamil culture and history?” According to Oxford dictionary, it is either “the arts & other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively”, “the customs, civilization &achievements of a particular time & people.” Culture is defined by the state of human development and not language or religion. Jallikattu belongs to a Paleolithic period when man fought animals with bare hands as he tried to domesticate them. There is nothing intellectual or cultural about fighting bulls. True, there is the taint of history – Jallikattu is mentioned in Sangam literature & has probably been practiced for a long time. But neither history nor culture is static. The former records past events, the latter defines the age. If we want to go back to the past, then let us throw off our cholis, practice caste & polygamy, stop using electricity & other modicons.
He calls it the culture of the subalterns. Jallikattu bulls are owned by rich landlords who let the animals loose on poor, disposable subalterns (and not their sons) who, well primed with liquor, take on the bulls in the hope of earning some money. This is surely a form of exploitation. Prevention is better than cure, and prevention of Jaliikattu is better than provision of ambulances. Subalterns need education & jobs, not Jaliikattu which merely keeps them backward. His final coup about the female preference to ‘choose their husbands based on their valor’ is out of novels & films. The novels & films also describe how the animals are force-fed liquor. Why is that not mentioned?
[Photo courtesy - Yahoo news]He wants a proper monitoring mechanism to medically examine the bulls to prevent their imbibing alcohol. Is he aware of the number of laws & rules governing the transportation of animals for slaughter, the way they should be fed, slaughtered and so on, and how each rule is broken at whim. Dowry & child marriage are banned, yet both continue with impunity. Every religion speaks of compassion to all creatures & condemns cruelties towards animals. Religion is a barometer of culture, but vested interests misuse it, threatening villagers with dire consequences if they give up old practices. Once upon a time, it was believed that human sacrifice was essential & could alone prevent ”divine wrath” when Shaivas & Jainas in ancient Tamilagam held public religious debates, the losing Jainas were impaled alive. Can these cruelties be justified in the name of religion or culture?
Man must evolve from one stage to a higher one. Once upon a time, Brahmins were the greatest sacrifices of animals. Faced by opposition from the Upanishads rishis, Buddha & Mahavira, they gave up sacrifice & became vegetarians. Human development has been a development of the mind. Should we condemn the Buddha because he was an elitist prince who preached non violence and stopped animal sacrifice? If some cultural practices are cruel, they must be stopped.
The racing driver & cricketer have the right to choose their profession. The bull cannot choose where he will live, whether he wants to eat meat or drink alcohol, whether he wants chili powder & chemicals rubbed on his anus & genitals, whether he wants to fight or not, or whether he wants to live or be slaughtered for somebody’s enjoyment of a beef steak. Man has a choice and should exercise it to prevent harming another. It is arguments like those for bullfighting that justified the mass killing of Jews in Germany and other genocides.
[Photo courtesy - Tom Allwood] Mr. Jayakumar will be unhappy to know that the famous Barcelona bullring in Spain is about to close down, and that the people of Catalonia (the main centre of bullfighting) have voted to end the cruel ‘sport’. Tamilians are educated and sophisticated, and barbarism & cruelty sit ill on their shoulders. After all, it was Thiruvalluvar in 200 B.C., who said,
“Diverse are the teachings of the religions of the world, but in all will be found that compassion is that which gives men spiritual deliverance. Hold on to it.”
