A day after SC declined to vacate a stay on 'Jallikattu', a popular sport to tame wild bulls in rural Tamil Nadu, local leaders decided to observe January 15 as a 'black day'.
MADURAI: A day after the Supreme Court declined to vacate a stay on 'Jallikattu', a popular sport to tame wild bulls in rural Tamil Nadu, local leaders on Saturday decided to observe January 15, the occasion of Pongal festival, as a 'black day' to protest the ban.
A meeting of councillors of the Alanganallur village, where the Jallikattu is held on a grand scale attracting local and foreign tourists, directed residents to hoist black flags on the day of Pongal, the harvest festival.
The sport, whose history is traced back to the days of Pandya dynasty in the 13th century, is part of the Pongal festivities across the 11 southern districts of the state.
"It's a ban even the Kings had not imposed...we strongly condemn it. We don't want to violate the court order. We will observe Pongal Day as a black day and hoist black flags on that day," Councillors Raja and Veluthambi said here.
They also decided not to allow the state government to celebrate 'samathuva Pongal' (community Pongal) in the village to register their protest.
The Councillors also criticised the Central and state governments for not putting up a strong case for getting the stay vacated.
Shops remained closed in the village today as a mark of protest against the stay order.
Meanwhile, in a clear defiance of the ban, organizers on Friday conducted the Jallikattu in Soorakudi village, about 50 km from here, hours after the apex court order, prompting police to register a case against them.
The district administration on Saturday held a meeting with organisers of the Jallikattu and reviewed the situation. Local MLA K Murthy (DMK) also attended the meeting.
District Collector S S Jawahar, who presided, told the participants that the court order should not be violated.
A tense situation prevailed at the district collectorate, where the meeting was held, as a large number of villagers gathered there to know the outcome of the meeting.
Officials said they had decided to set up check-posts around several villages such as Alanganallur, Palamedu in Madurai district and Siravayal in Sivaganga district to prevent bulls from being transported to these villages.
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