Politics of Jallikattu

Author(s): KALAIYARASAN A
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 52, No. 6 (FEBRUARY 11, 2017), pp. 10-13
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44166164
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 Politics of Jallikattu local people. When police arrested the
protesters, the news spread like fire
through social networking sites and
WhatsApp messages, and a group of
KALAIYARASAN A students in Chennai gathered at the
Marina sands to demand the release of

The protest
A condition for individual experiences to link the students. On the same of
day,* people
up and form a movement is the existence of a
the ban all over Tamil Nadu organised
on Jall impromptu
communication process that propagates the
events and the emotions attached to it. protests, led by students and youth, and
The pent-up an
- Manuel Castells (2015: 15) hence subsequently came to be called
successive polic
a "Tamil Spring" and also as a "Thai
government an
Revolution" (Thai referring to the Tamil
encroachment against the ban on Jallikattu, a month that is synonymous with hope o
mainThe bull against massive
bull sport
sport held the
during held ban protest
the harvest
cause during on Jallikattu, the of harvest Tamils a and new opportunities).
of m
festival of Pongal, attracted much atten- The protest acquired an iconic place
in the
tion across the world. A sport that was protests
in the history of Tamil Nadu for many
displayed
popular among only some communities the
reasons. Not only was it massive, non- li
of a few districts in Tamil Nadu suddenly
Hindu violent, and spontaneous, it attracted
right's a
acquired an authentic Tamil identity, over people from all walks of life with a large
inroads
a decade after it drew the attention into th
number of women participating in the
valorising
of those who struggled to banishprotest.
it. The protestersTam
saw the Jallikattu
culture. ban as an attack on Tamil culture
The
Animal lovers have been waging a legal and pr
battle, besides embarking on a "vicious
continuity identity, though many
ofof them might not T
have watched a live bull sport in their
campaign" against Jallikattu on the charge
renewed streng
that it amounted to cruelty to bulls. But
lifetime. Thus, Jallikattu became a symbol
social media activism.
the argument of the protesters is that
of Tamil pride.
the sport is not about bull taming but
embracing them. Taking a cue from Jallikattu
the as a Trigger
ancient Tamil literature, Yeru Thazhu-
So, if the protests saw a forced violent
end, it is because thę Tamil Spring
vuthal (embracing bull), the supporters
earned the ire of not just animal lovers
argue that the sport is more about em-
but an entire establishment sensed socio-
bracing the bull than the show of human
political repercussions in such mobilisa-
bravery over the bull. The literal mean-
ing of Jallikattu is - Jalli /salii (coins)
tions. If Tamil was used to produce hori-
and kattu (tied) - grabbing a bag zontal
of solidarities among the lower
coins tied to the horns of the bulls. castes and classes in the past, Jallikattu
However, as the debate raged for over
was used as a symbol of Tamil pride now.
a decade in courtrooms, newsrooms and If Jallikattu is seen as a weird custom
other public fora, animal lovers, whoof Tamils, the protest seeking its preser-
came under a slew of banners like Animal
vation was seen as lawlessness by both
the Tamil elites and their counterparts
Welfare Board of India (awbi) and People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Delhi. They resented that Tamils have
(peta), were ahead of those who wanted
been taken over by passion and pride,
the conservation of their ancient culture. instead of reason and nuance. What they
Two Pongal festivals went by without failed
a to note, however, was that Tamils
Jallikattu event much to the chagrinare more than emotional. The critics
and disappointment of the subaltern missed the context and history. It is not
communities. But this year, a group of
new for Tamil elites to look down upon
such large-scale protests led by students.
supporters of the Jallikattu converged at
The author thanks Ezhil, Babu Jayakumar and Alanganallur, the village near MaduraiFor instance, in 1939, C Rajagopalachari,
Anandhi S for their inputs in writing this article.
the premier of the Madras Presidency,
that is famous for the sport, demanding
Kalaiyarasan A ( kalaijnu@gmail.com ) is with the lifting of the ban. ridiculed the first anti-Hindi martyr
the Institute for Studies in Industrial
Many of the protesters were studentsL Nadarajan, who died in prison. "It was
Development, New Delhi.
who were expressing solidarity with thedue to his illiteracy that he picketed and

10 February 11, 2017 vol lii no 6 Œ253 Economic & Political weekly

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 = COMMENTARY

corporate things are occupying my kitchen. that was projected as a natural ally of
it was due to his picketing that he hap-
My children like junk food, noodles, soft the corporates.
pened to be in jail, but his illness was
drinks like Coke and Pepsi and so on. Now,
certainly due to other causes" (Pandian
the corporate has brought in substandard Anti-centre Politics
1996: 3327). Following Rajagopalachari, quality milk that would make my children
T N Seshan, in the case of 1965 anti- weak. But the milk from native cows would Among others, an issue which echoed
Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu, observes make him stronger. This understanding has during the protest is the Cauvery water
pushed me to the protest that was called by dispute. The dispute has influenced the
that, "Mobs of illiterate and semi-literate
the students.
Tamil people, mostly poor, lapsed into politics of the state for long as the river
By linking the ban on Jallikattu to the has a deep cultural and economic sig-
fits of fury in the cause of so remote
a language, English" (Pandian and imagined corporate takeover of milk nificance. Despite its complex history,
Kalaiyarasan 2013). production in the state, protesters man- the dispute has generated a sense of
On the same lines, Nirupama Subra-aged to connect with the women who betrayal among Tamils. Karnataka has
have been repeatedly told by various failed to implement the Supreme Court
manian (2017) called the current protest
activists, carrying out different campaigns directive for the release of water to save
an act of lawlessness which sets "a dan-
gerous new precedent" in the country. on the need to follow traditional culi- the samba crops this year. Despite the
What she could not understand perhaps nary cultures by warning of corporate state government's efforts, the insuffi-
was that the Jallikattu is more than "hurt baits. The story of cattle told to women is cient release of the Cauvery water was
sentiment" and "injured pride." Her coun- that the bulls used in Jallikattu are of seen as the main cause of the agrarian
terpart, Subramanian Swamy, calls the pure breed, and are preserved through crisis in 2016, which took a toll of more
protesters porukkis (thugs). As in the the sport. Jallikattu helps in segregating than 100 lives. The National Human
past, this protest too was dubbed as anti- the best bulls from the weak ones. The Rights Commission took suo motu cog-
national. The honour of being dubbed ascows that are bred from these bulls offer nisance of the deaths and issued a notice
anti-national is not new to Tamils, the the best milk. These cows are expected to the Tamil Nadu government seeking
protesters claim. As the anti-Hindi agita- to live long and offer milk enough for explanation (Janardhanan 2017).
tion was not simply about the language, both the calf and people. The indigenous The people of the state perceive that
Jallikattu protest was not just about a bulls known as Kangayam and Pulikulam the centre has not done enough to ensure
sport. Though, undoubtedly, Jallikattu are pure ones and they are preserved adequate water supply from the Cauvery
was the trigger, at least two other primarily for breeding and to take part to Tamil Nadu. The farmers' deaths have,
strands of popular discontent were dis- in Jallikattu. thus, accentuated the resentment against
cernible at the various protest sites, in- "If the sport is banned, we will lose the centre. The wound is still fresh in
cluding Marina - one, anti-corporate, these native cattle," resonated all along people's memory. The slogan, "enough
and two, anti-centre. the protest. Karthikeya Sivasenapathy, is enough" is driven by this frustration.
who runs Cattle Research Foundation, The supporters also mentioned Mullai-
Anti-corporate Sentiment also spearheaded this campaign. He periyar water dispute where Tamil Nadu
The omnipresent placards conveying the said: is being seen as the victim of larger con-
message, "peta is a corporate lobby and The banning of Jallikattu and the demand spiracy of the centre. There was a strong
the ban is a corporate ploy," and the for banning of other rural sports like rekhla sentiment among the protesters that the
slogans that rang through the protest race will ultimately result in the vanishing centre has favoured Kerala and deceived
sites in the state were clear indicators that of native species and ultimately result in the Tamil Nadu. In some sites of protests,
country turning into import dependent on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue was also
anti-corporate sentiments have gripped
bovine animals. (Babu 2017)
the collective psyche of the Tamils. So, articulated, where the centre was not
it is not a surprise that a fallout of the The fear among women in particular spared for its collusion with the Sri
protest is that at least the international is that losing these cattle is losing Lankan state for the massacre of Tamils
brands of soft drinks, Coke and Pepsi, the self-sufficiency in milk production. in 2009.
have gone off the shelves of many shops in It is a corporate ploy, they were told. In addition, there are other policies
Tamil Nadu. The slogans running down The corporate-run cross-bred cow has a initiated by the centre that the state has
Coke and Pepsi, along with peta, were short life and produces a huge quantity been opposing or seeking an exemption.
repeatedly raised to drive home the point of milk. This milk has many health One such issue is the National Eligibility
that there was an international corporate issues affecting digestion and causing cum Entrance Test (neet). The Supreme
allergies in infants. This campaign was Court made neet mandatory for all
ploy to play with the health of Tamils.
A housewife, Usha, when asked about done to such a level that it bordered medical admissions across the country.
her motive for attending the protest on neo-nativism. Not only did the Tamil Nadu has been opposing it stating
said: the need to preserve its social justice
campaign capture the existing anti-cor-
Corporatisation is happening rapidly. All porate imagination of the people, policy
it and other state-specific objec-
tives. All these issues have generated a
things we used are controlled now by the turned the protesters and the people in
corporate. What worries me most is that general against the central government pent-up anger against the centre.

Economic & Political weekly laavi February 11, 2017 vol lii no 6 H

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 This became evident when the pro- if you shout against Modi, but what slice of history would not be out of place
testers carried caricatures of Narendra about the nation? There are those in the
here. The significant outcomes of the
crowd carrying placards which say thatDravidian
if movement in Tamil Nadu are
Modi. The slogans and placards asked
you don't allow Jallikattu, Tamil Nadu will
why Tamil Nadu should respect the secede. Portraits of ... ltte leader Prab- achievements in social justice and asser-
tion of Tamil identity. While the former
Supreme Court when it cannot enforce hakaran are rampant at the venue. Small
the water rights of Tamil Nadu. The children are carrying Modi's placards with
produced social and economic mobility
state's inactions on several other issues for a substantial section across caste
denigrating words about the prime minister.
(Ramasubramanian 2017)
ailing Tamil Nadu too resonated in the groups by innovative reservation poli-
protests. Jallikattu was just a trigger. The protests have also warmed the
cies, the latter produced a well-informed
hearts of raucous Tamil nationalists. Tamil cultural public. The Dravidian
Tamil against Hindu movement's assertion of Tamil identity
Both share pure love for Tamil, though
A new yet significant player in this made this cultural public possible. As
for different reasons. The symbol of Eru
Pandian (2000) sums up:
Thazhuvuthal (embracing a bull) is seen
politics of the sport is the Hindu right.
as Tamil glory - the seal with the bull
For the last two decades, the Hindu right Avant-garde magazines, proliferation of
has been courting Tamil language anddepicts the Tamil age. Does this protest publishing houses, an expanded reading
culture. Its new-found slogan appearssignify redefining Tamil nationalism? public, globally-informed debates, and books
to be "Tamil, Hindu and Hindustan" Tamil identity was presented as one that which both in their content and design can
compete with the best in the world, are all
(Pandian 2000). Tamil used to be a sub- was beleaguered, and its defence carried a
hallmarks of the new self-confident Tamil
nationalist assertion for many in the past. broad appeal and performed the radical
cultural public.
It is no longer so. When the early Dravida task of mobilising horizontal solidarities
Munnetra Kazhagam (dmk) spoke of among different sections. It was moreIf the mobilisation for Jallikattu is
Tamil, it was more than a language. The than a language. It was a vehicle for
driven by active social media, the latter
assertion of speaking Tamil is simulta- lower-caste assertion. Now the state itself became possible because of an
neously anti-caste, secularist and anti- has a vibrant Tamil culture, and a self-
educated section of the people cutting
Sanskrit. Tamil is harmless now. One can confident segment of lower castes whoacross caste groups and Tamil cultural
be a good Tamil, good Hindu and a good are placed across the spectrum due to
public in the state. The current uprising
of student and youth is being seen as
Indian together. This option was not successive reservation policies (Pandian
available earlier. The Hindu right could 2011). a Tamil Spring akin to the Arab Spring.
indeed find its takers in the state now. Does this mobilisation signify change It is indeed so in mobilisation if not
It mobilised Thirvalluvar, an ancient in Tamil identity? Whether it is more of in content. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
Tamil poet, to display its new-found love pride now than the one which is rooted and WhatsApp have played a significant
for Tamil. Thirvalluvar, and his works in deprivations is yet to be seen. role in disseminating information, organ-
Thirukkural were seen as the symbols of ising rallies and planning the occupa-
secular tradition of the Tamils. Along New Social Movement? tion of public spaces. The social media
this line, the Hindu right attempted to Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a vibrant supplied slogans to the protest sites
take up the issue of Jallikattu to pre- social media-led activism in recent times. across the state.
serve "Tamil" culture. It backfired. The The student uprising against war crimes This sort of social media networks-led

weight of history is stronger than their in Sri Lanka in 2013, well-organised mobilisation changed the traditional
current political manoeuvres. flood relief in 2015 and the current mobi- protest or demonstration into what Cas-
The recent move by the centre impos- lisation for Jallikattu are evidence of tells (2015) calls the new social move-
ing Hindi and Sanskrit in schools did not such trends. For instance, Chennai and ment. He argues that the internet not
find many takers in Tamil Nadu. In addi- Cuddalore witnessed the worst floods in only facilitates instant communication
tion, the imprint of Hindi and Devanagari nearly a hundred years. The state gov- but also liberates individuals to shape a
numerals in the newly-introduced rupee ernment's ineptitude in both preventive new autonomy and freedom. In the pro-
notes in November 2016 also attracted and post-flood relief efforts are still cess, mass self-communicated horizon-
wide oppositions in the state. The at- fresh in people's memory. It is the youth tal networks get built which can criticise
tempt to subsume Tamil identity under and students who took a lead in rehabili- anyone, offer space to vent out all collec-
Hindu and Indian is perhaps not work- tation of flood victims and mobilised tive anger against powers that be and
ing. The Jallikattu protest shows the re- support across the state through social
fusal of Tamil to be subsumed. Those media. A similar style of work is evident Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
placards and slogans displayed in the
during the Jallikattu protests. available at
protest are witness to this. A quote of a A vibrant social media needs an edu-
senior leader of Bharatiya Janta Party incated class, shared vocabularies and a Gyan Deep
Near Firayalal, H. B. Road
the state sums up this mood: cultural language to connect, communi- Ranchi 834 001, Jharkhand
cate and mobilise the people. How does
All sorts of anti-national elements are par- Ph: 0651-2205640
ticipating in the protests. We don't botherthis become possible in Tamil Nadu? A

12 FEBRUARY 11, 2017 VOL LII NO 6 Economic & Political WEEKLY

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ensure mass participation. Since it offers comes from Madurai or from places became Arab spring, the Jallikattu is a
independent and autonomous space, other than Chennai, and starts narratingtrigger for Tamil spring.
people can share their experiences and her/his experience in the city and life in
relate their lived stories with others. corporate workspaces, she/he gets a huge REFERENCES

Babu, Giree
applause from the crowd. The gathering
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lessness of their solitary despair by net- Business St
Castells, Ma
working their desire" (Castells 2015). and celebration. The claiming of a social Hope : Soci
As a woman participant says: space which was not available for some- Cambridge,
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This is the first protest I have ever partici- Nadu over
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Centre Are Main Target," Wire, 23 January.
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Subramanian, Nirupama (2017): "Lawless on the
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Is the Government's Overly

indeed necessary to meet these commit-
ments (Tongia 2016: 17), but they have

Aggressive Solar Thrust in

remained unanswered.
The government estimates the invest-

Public Interest? ment requirement for 100 gw of solar

generation to be of the order of ^6 lakh
crore. Globally, renewable energy (re) is
a favourite of investors, and the govern-
KANNAN KASTURI ment's solar programme has been enthusi-
astically received. Foreign investors, such
The as SunEdison, SkyPower, Fortum India
governme
and SoftBank and Indian business hous-
solar power ge
India's
India's power, thethan
than 8 current
power, gw. the8government
Modi gw.ModiShortly
Shortly de- after
solar government after capacitycoming
coming is less de-toto es, including Adani, Tata and Mahindra,
from the
clared a fivefold increase - in the 2022
curren
have aggressively participated in the
2022. How will
target for solar generation capacity inlarge solar tenders. Competition is fierce
solar
the country - programm
to an eye-popping 100 gw.and the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy has had to hire
Less than a year before, India's electri-
electricity large halls to
dist
city establishment had estimated 100accommodate all interested players dur-
companies? Ho
gw to be India's solar potential till 2032
ing pre-bid meetings (Kenning 2015).
cost, availabilit
(mop 2014: 22)! The target has been set
electricity Challenges of Renewable
without reference to the coal-fired capa- for Energy
on the Grid
the city addition in progress and at a time
pace
of sol
when capacity utilisation of existing
The thrust of the government is entirely
pushed by the
thermal plants is very low and there ison grid connected solar energy. A little
the apublic inte
large uncertainty on how electricitybackground is useful to understand the
demand will develop in the next few challenge this poses for electricity distri-
years (Singh 2016; Tongia 2016: 6). Thebution. Electricity demand typically varies
only argument the government has through the day. For example, the all-
offered in favour of its aggressive solarIndia average pattern shows a higher
thrust is that this would help India meetdemand during the day than at night
its international commitments on carbon with a sharp late evening peak (pgcil
emissions (goi 2015a).
Kannan Questions have2012: 57). It is a basic requirement
Kasturi ( of
Ka
is an independent
been raised about whether such a rapida stable electricity grid that demand r
public interest and p
build-up of non-fossil fuel capacity isand supply be "balanced," or in other
Economic & Political weekly ŒE9 February 11, 2017 vol lii no 6 13

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