Jallikattu will be held, says CM

Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam has assured that he and the government led by him will ensure the conduct of Jallikattu to protect the culture and tradition of Tamils.

Panneerselvam also hit out at arch-rival DMK for its criticism of the ruling AIADMK on the matter, saying it was the UPA regime, in which the DMK was a key constituent, which issued a notification including bulls under the ‘performing animals’ category, making it unable to be used in the sport.

While the AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a passionate plea to issue an Ordinance to circumvent the Supreme Court verdict banning the traditional sport, Panneerselvam declared that his Government has resolved to conduct Jallikattu and blamed the previous UPA Government for the court ban.

A group of AIADMK MPs led by Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Thambi Durai met the principal secretary to the Prime Minister and handed over a memorandum from Sasikala requesting the Centre to promulgate an Ordinance for the conduct of Jallikattu.

“Myself and the Tamil Nadu government, who follow in the footsteps of Amma (Jayalalithaa), will ensure that Jallikattu is held. We will not backoff even a bit. I would like to assure the people of Tamil Nadu that we will uphold the heritage and culture of the Tamils,” OPS said.

The Chief Minister also blamed the DMK as being responsible for the ban on jallikattu. The DMK was part of the UPA government in 2011 when the order to include bulls in the list of performing animals was passed, he charged.