Protests withdrawn at Marina, Jallikattu Bill passed at Assembly

Week-long demonstrations over Jallikattu ended on Monday, after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a Bill removing the ban on the bull taming sport.

Earlier, tense moments prevailed with police forcibly evicting protesters on Chennai’s Marina Beach that resembled a wrestling ring.

Police resorted to lathi charge and fired tear gas at several places in the Tamil Nadu capital. In Coimbatore, police pounced on a man who threatened self-immolation. On their part, the agitators resorted to violence and even torched a police station.

The much-awaited bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 to make jallikattu a permanent sport in rural Tamil Nadu was passed by the state assembly unanimously in a special session on Monday evening.

By passing the bill, the state government has replaced an ordinance promulgated on January 21.

"The state government has decided to exempt the conduct of jallikattu from the provisions of the said central Act and therefore the government decided to amend the Act in its application to Tamil Nadu," said the government.