Jallikattu should be a sport: Sadhguru equates bull-taming to cricket
- Jallikattu should be seen as a sport, said Jaggi Vasudev
- “Even playing cricket with a leather ball coming at a high speed is no less than a missile and is too dangerous for the players”
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On the sidelines of the Jaipur literary festival, spiritual writer Sadhguru supported the sport, saying it has a traditional significance. Talking to PTI, the founder of Isha Foundation argued that the centuries-old sport was conducted to honour animals, and not to carry out any cruelty against them. "Jallikattu should be seen as a sport. If such festivals do not take place, the livestock will line up at slaughter houses," he said.
Talking about the dangers associated with cricket, he said, "Even playing cricket with a leather ball coming at a high speed is no less than a missile and is too dangerous for the players. If the government wants to stop such festivals, they should open stadiums and grounds for people to play sports.” He also targeted animal rights activists who, he claimed, were presenting the case in the court without understanding the significance of the festival and citing only a few "bad examples".
Also read: Jallikattu ban: Is Tamil culture being threatened by 'American agent' PETA?
To Jaggi Vasudev’s theory about Jallikattu being an ordinary sport like cricket, here’s what the SC would have said, “India cannot import Roman gladiator type sport”. Also, if Jallikattu were actually viewed as a sport, then it would have been played as one, with India holding Jallikattu World Cups. We already know that Spain would be interested in this.
The yogi has talked about the dangers of the ball coming like a missile and hitting the players. If Jaggi Vasudev had been a keen follower of cricket, he would have noticed that the cricketers, especially batsmen and the wicket keeper, wear protective pads, helmets and gloves to ‘protect’ themselves from the leather ball. Imagine that in Jallikattu! The last picture we saw of the event, shows a bunch of men clad in shorts and t-shirts trying to wrestle a frenzied bull thrice their weight; not only that, these animals have horns that could poke a hole in a human within seconds. We don’t see that in cricket do we?
Jallikattu has always been a regional sport held in Tamil Nadu during Pongal, and other states like Maharashtra and Karnataka hold bullock-cart races. Here’s what the SC said on racing bulls as a form of entertainment: “How does the bull get tamed for entertainment? Can the bulls be contemplated for entertainment of human mind? Bulls are supposed to rest, why should they race.”
Also read: Yes, money is involved in Jallikattu, but is it a paid entertainment?
