Team Herald
MARGAO: The chances of legalising Dhirio in Goa got better after Union Minister for Environment and Forests Anil Madhav Dave appeared receptive to the demand in the backdrop of the conditional lifting of the ban on Jalikattu in Tamil Nadu.
South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar, who recently met Dave in Delhi, said that his meeting with the minister on the Dhirio issue was positive. In the backdrop of the conditional lifting of the ban on Jalikattu in Tamil Nadu, Dave was receptive to the demand for legalising Dhirio in Goa, he said.
It is learnt that preparations are on to give a proper representation on Dhirio at the Supreme Court with support from the Jalikattu order.
Sawaikar informed the media that, “Pursuing the matter by promising compliance with the safety norms of both the people and the animal during organisation of Dhirio will be our first look out in the plea to lift the ban. If this works as it has worked for Jalikattu, then, we may get the ban lifted as well.”
“By imposing various conditions, Jalikattu has been given the status of a sport. (Therefore,) Dhirio may also be allowed on the same lines by mandating safety measures etc,” Sawaikar reportedly told Dave.
Since it is a Supreme Court matter, Sawaikar said, people would have to wait for its decision.
It may be recalled that in a notification issued recently, the Environment Ministry modified its own 2011 order that included bulls in the list of animals that “shall not be exhibited or trained as performing animal”.
According to the new notification, “bulls may be continued to be exhibited or trained as a performing animal at events such as Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and bullock cart races in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Kerala and Gujarat in the manner by the customs of any community or practiced traditionally under the customs or as a part of culture, in any part of the country”.
The notification mentions that this exemption is subject to the condition that bulls are treated properly and not subjected to cruelty.
