Simbu announces protest for Jallikattu

Silambarasan aka STR will observe a silent protest in support of jallikattu in front of his residence on Thursday evening.

He called for an urgent press meet on Wednesday to express his anger after police used lathicharge to disperse students protesting to revoke ban on Jallikattu in Madurai.

He attended the press meet along with his father T Rajendar, who also made an emotional speech against the ban on traditional bullfighting sport of Tamil Nadu.

Simbu said: "I came to know about how a bull is brought up when I made a film called Silambattam. That is when I got to know the importance of Jallikattu. I have not addressed any issues before; maybe I was not so matured before. But I felt that if I don’t talk today, then when will I?"

He added: "We have let go of all kind of things thus far. But how could someone come and erode our culture and tradition that is so old? Should we keep quite even for this? When a soldier dies in Jammu and Kashmir, he is addressed as Indian soldier but whereas when a fisherman is killed in Sri Lanka, he is addressed as a Tamil fisherman by the press. Why is that discrimination?"

"When foreigners speak about 'Jallikattu', I can understand because they don't know it's a tradition and is an integral part of our culture. But when my own Tamil brothers speak against Jallikattu, it's just not done. It's a shame," he said.

"I appeal to all my Tamil friends to unite and join me outside my house tomorrow (Thursday) at 5 p.m. for ten minutes to silently protest against the ban on Jallikattu. This is not politics and I'm not doing this at the behest of any political party," he said.