Sujit De
This refers to Sujay Gupta’s timely article, “Dhirio debate enters the bull ring once again as ‘cruelty’ and ‘culture’ sentiments set to clash” (Herald, Fly on the wall, Feb 4, 2018). When a debate on cruelty versus culture, past tradition versus future humanity is heating up all over the country following the death of a Jallikattu spectator at Palamedu in Tamil Nadu; Goa’s decision to approach the constructional bench of the Supreme Court to lift the existing High Court ban on dhirios or bullfights, is highly unfortunate.
Now, who will own up to the death of 19-year-old Kalimuthu and 11 competitors in recent Jallikattu event? We must not forget that like Kalimuthu, Xaviour Rodrigues of Cana Benaulim was killed during a dhirio fight at Ambaja-Fatorda on September 17, 1996. Apart from the danger of loss of human lives, such sports are but celebration of cruelty and sadism. Unfortunately, we unite when our macho pride gets hurt but we do not care when inhuman practices cause a real blow to our pride.
How can we cling to tradition when it challenges human rights and animal rights? Where are the animal rights when two dhirio bulls or a Jallikattu bull are/ is sadistically teased? And where are the human rights for the spectators in dhirio or Jallikattu and the competitors in Jallikattu?
As a matter of fact, it is the Taliban in us that makes us regard tradition as a static object. A cultural practice must not be allowed to put the lives of people and animals in peril and thus put a spoke in evolution’s wheel that has taken us from the Neolithic age to this age of welfare state when a country is being evaluated by human development indices. The problem arises when we start denying this ascending evolution and try to cling to our past outdated practices in the name of culture and tradition even if those rituals infringe human and animal rights!
How can we get fun by sadistically forcing two teased bulls to fight for their lives in dhirio or by driving a bull crazy to fight with some poor men in Jallikattu? How can we let people celebrate violence and hope for peace in our country at the same time? Is not it ludicrous? We must always remember what Sri Aurobindo had once said, “We do not belong to the past dawns, but to the noons of the future.”
