[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]P[/dropcap]ongal, the annual agricultural festival of Tamil Nadu turned out to be quite distinct and unique from all its previous editions because of one man and his mission. It was Dr Subramanian Swamy, Member of Parliament and senior BJP leader who stood out between the law breakers and their plan to circumvent a Supreme Court order. There is a report that Dr. Swamy had issued stern warning to AIADMK leader V K Sasikala over the State looking the other way when law breakers stage Jallikattu in open defiance of Supreme Court ban.
Though the Supreme Court had banned Jallikattu in May 2014, the sport was held in 2015 and 2016 without much fanfare all over Tamil Nadu. The forces behind this illegal activity turned out to be anti-National groups based in the State which are known for their demands for a separate Tamil Nation and the supporters of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka.
The apex court of India by a special judgement in May 2014 had banned Jallikattu, a sport of bull taming, held in rural Tamil Nadu in connection with Pongal festivities. The ban was in response to series of petitions filed by the Animal Welfare Board of India and a number of NGOs, which are funded by various international agencies trying to break the concept of India itself.
Though the Supreme Court had banned Jallikattu in May 2014, the sport was held in 2015 and 2016 without much fanfare all over Tamil Nadu. The forces behind this illegal activity turned out to be anti-National groups based in the State which are known for their demands for a separate Tamil Nation and the supporters of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. They do not miss a single opportunity to portray the concept of India in poor light.
The court ban on Jallikattu was based on petitions filed during the UPA regime led by Manmohan Singh from 2004 to 2014. But the anti national forces in Tamil Nadu claimed that the ban was a fall out of the petition filed by RSS and the BJP which was propagated by a number of Tamil TV news channels. If the common man believed the news, he could not be blamed as they forget everything quite soon.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]he Narendra Modi government at the Centre had tried to save the sport from the Supreme Court ban in 2015 by issuing a special notification exempting the Jallikkattu bulls from the list of performing animals. (It was the inclusion of bulls as performing animals by the then UPA government which led to the Supreme Court ban). But the animal rights activists approached challenged the notification and the apex court shot down the notification issued by the Centre.
Three days before Pongal, Dr Swamy tweeted that if Jallikattu was held violating the Supreme Court ban, the AIADMK government could be dismissed and President’s rule could be imposed in the State.
But the Jallikattu events continued to be held in southern Tamil Nadu without much fanfare and the ruling AIADMK government had turned a blind eye towards people conducting the sport. Many extremist organisations and parties like the DMK, CPI-M, MDMK, DMDK, Naam Tamizhar campaigned demanding the lifting of the ban on Jallikattu. They portrayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS as the villains of the piece. What the Prime Minister and the RSS had to do with the ban was completely misinterpreted and distorted by these groups.
The demonstrations held in Tamil Nadu portrayed RSS and the BJP as anti-Tamils.”Anti-Tamil RSS and BJP get out of Tamil Nadu”, screamed the placards displayed in these rallies. These groups also announced that they would hold Jallikattu violating the Supreme Court ban. A group of lawyers known for their pro-LTTE and pro-secessionist stances began to openly defy the court verdict and stage Jallikattu in Madurai, Virudunagar, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts. “It is a routine event in these districts. Ban order or not, they will stage the events,” a senior cop had told PGurus.
Three days before Pongal, Dr Swamy tweeted that if Jallikattu was held violating the Supreme Court ban, the AIADMK government could be dismissed and President’s rule could be imposed in the State. It turned out to be the game changer in the State. Hell broke loose in Fort Saint George. O Panneerselvam, the lame duck chief minister who is presiding over an administration remote controlled by party general secretary Sasikala and her scheming husband Natarajan, issued orders asking the police to be tough with the law breakers.
What followed Dr Swamy’s tweet was mind boggling. “Heavy police forces were deployed in all potential areas in Tamil Nadu. The State has never seen such a deployment of police at no point of time,” G K Nagaraj, president, Kongunadu Jananayaga Katchi, an outfit based in South West Tami Nadu told PGurus.
“This is the first time I have seen this kind of police deployment in Tamil Nadu. More than 1.5 lakh people had gathered at Alanganallur village on Monday morning to express their opposition to Jallikattu. We did not conduct the Jallikattu this year because of the presence of police,” said Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, managing trustee, Kangeyam Cattle Research Foundation, a NGO engaged in the preservation of native breeds of bulls.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]D[/dropcap]r. Swamy is no opponent of Jallikattu. But he is for the rule of law. While all BJP leaders based in Tamil Nadu were content with making statements in support of Jallikattu, he had approached the Supreme Court with a plea to remove the ban on Jallikattu and it is under consideration of the court.
Tamil Nadu political parties are known for their hypocrisy and double standards.
It has been his style of functioning. This was proved during the famous Mullaperiyar litigation between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. With both the DMK and the AIADMK governments developing cold feet over the intransigence of the Kerala government to increase the water level in the dam, Dr Swamy approached the Supreme Court and argued for a court directive to Kerala to increase the water level to 142 ft from the level of 126 ft . The original water level in the dam was 152 ft which was lowered to 132 ft by the then chief minister M G Ramachandran in the 1970s. But Kerala opposed the move to increase the water level to 142 ft after the dam was strengthened by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The former went to the extent of enacting a law in the State Assembly against Tamil Nadu which was challenged by the Senior BJP leaer in the apex court. Finally the court ruled that the dam was strong enough to hold water up to 142 ft and Kerala had no other option other than agreeing to the court order. Strangely enough, the Tamil Nadu media started praising AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa for the Mullaperiyar victory!
Tamil Nadu political parties are known for their hypocrisy and double standards. While they vehemently oppose all moves to promulgate ordinance by the Central Government on any emergency issues, they have been pleading with the Modi government to promulgate an ordinance to stage Jallikattu. DMK leader Stalin went to the extent of alleging that the BJP government was anti-Tamil because of its indifference to Jallikattu. It is this hypocrisy which has been exposed by Dr Swamy through his Tweet.
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Seems Jallikattu is brought for black mailing of aircel case which SC is about to hear its next verdict on 22nd jan.
You are trying to project a larger than life image of S.Swamy. The fact is that nobody takes him seriously in Tamilnadu.
The centre wont impose president’s rule in TN after they experienced setbacks in two earlier cases. Also they are counting on the support of AIADMK who have 50 MP’s
Hats off to DrSwamy,his series of tweets calling the rowdies for what they are is hilarious .The culture in TN has been brought in since the 1950s and it reached its zenith in the 1960s hindi agitation.DK/DMK came to power just as nazis did in germany on the basis of abuse/thuggery/record dance culture.This bunch now has morphed into many little elees purporting various causes not at all important to law abiding tamil.They don’t have public support but unfortunately none of the politicians have guts and backbone like DrSwamy to take on these hooligans.Less said about TNBJP the better.If Amit Shah is really honest,he will have to give charge of TNBJP to DrSwamy.Not only BJP will benefit but also entire TN will be rid of the minuscule number indulging in rowdiness giving off the impression majority support their ugliness.It is time to call their bluff.Tamil people are highly hard working,knowledgeable and these minuscule number indulging in abuse/thuggery are a blot to the state’s image.Time to change that image.Does Amit Shah has the guts,honesty and clarity?
So, I believe in Karnataka and Kerala, the president rule is happening as they are not following SC decisions from so many years. You Losers.