It is a very common sight on village roads of the coastal belt of South Goa to see a massive bull strolling past on the road with a group of locals and one immediately knows that the animal will be used for ‘dhirio’ sooner or later.
Unlike other activities banned by law, there is no real sense of fear among those involved in the dhirio business and unlike other illegal activities; there are no lawyers at hand to defend but politicians who are quick to ensure they are released from the clutches of the law.
Bullfighting in Goa was banned in 1998 following a Supreme Court judgement after a person in the crowd where the dhirio was taking place was killed by a bull.
Since then, the Congress via the then member of parliament Francisco Sardinha tried to legalise bullfighting in the parliament while the current Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar assured the Xaxtikars before the Lok Sabha elections that he would soon take up the matter of legalizing the sport when he was the state BJP Chief Minister.
While politicians of both the parties continue to make such promises, Dhiros are still organized in a clandestine manner where the details like time and venue are circulated through word of mouth and the bulls are transported secretly in vans.
It is no surprise that often bullfighting occurs at a near distance from the local MLAs residence and while recent attempts are foiled, animal right activists accuse the police of alerting the bull fight organisers so as to avoid catching them red-handed.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, Benaulim MLA Caitu Silva, former Navelim MLA Churchill Alemao along with MLA Vishnu Wagh from St Cruz are some of the politicians who have been openly batting for the sport.
If and when a bullfight organizer is caught, these MLAs are the first to cry foul and at recent meetings attended by 200-300 odd bullfight lovers, Vijai and Caitu have both called on the government to follow the recent union government’s decision to legalise Jalikattu, bull wrestling in Southern India.
Police officials have said sometimes it is difficult to keep a track of bullfighting as the venue and time changes and it usually takes place in the interiors of the villages without much fanfare. There is no boundary or barricade and yet there are thousands of spectators and while some fights are over within minutes, some stretch for an hour. Most fights are usually held over the weekends in open fields and the bloody fights end one when one bull limps away. In addition to the cajoling and cheering from the crowds, the main interest is the money that passes hands via betting and it is noted that foreign syndicates are involved as well. Bull owners point out that they spend around six to seven thousand a month to take care of the animal and around 70,000 a year to train these animals and they are thus dependent on the returns per fight to make ends meet. Many of the owners of these bulls once owned 4-5 bulls and now just have one or two as they exclaim that it is difficult to run the business and are hopeful that they will get their glory days back once the sport is legalized. They however, reiterated that they are not in it for the money and brush aside opinions that the animals are treated cruelly and say they treat these bulls as family and have even published obituaries in the paper about the bulls that have common Goan names.
At a recent gathering of bullfight lovers, the predominant feeling was that dhirio is not only a necessity but it is part of Goan heritage and the act of banning the sport is anti-Goan and it is the Xaxtikars in particular that swear by this sentiment.
They are hopeful that the politicians can deliver on their promises and at the same time aware that they have been fed this promise for the last 15 years with no results. That won’t stop them from carrying on dhirios and won’t stop people from as far as Agassaim and Pernem participating in their bullfights, be it the crowd, organisers or for the bets.
