2017 pro-jallikattu protests

2017 pro-jallikattu protests
Jallikattu protesters gathering at Chennai Marina Beach
Date	8 January 2017 (2017-01-08) – 23 January 2017 (2017-01-23)[1] (15 days)
Location	Tamil Nadu, India
Caused by	Supreme Court's ban against jallikattu
Goals	Revoke the ban on jallikattu Ban PETA[2]
Methods	picketing, sloganeering, human chain,[3] silent protest, hunger strike, demonstration, internet activism, candlelight vigil[4]
Resulted in	Tamil Nadu state legislation passed bill legalising jallikattu[5]
Number
> 1 million[6]
Casualties
Injuries	> 60[7]

The 2017 pro-jallikattu protests, also known as the pro-jallikattu movement, were leaderless apolitical youth protests which took place in January 2017 in large groups in several locations across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Some sporadic smaller protests also took place across India^[8] as well as overseas.^[9][10] The chief motivation of the protest was against the Supreme Court's order to ban jallikattu (occasionally also known as sallikattu, eru taluval and manju virattu),^[11] a traditional Tamil bull taming sport, which is held during Pongal, a harvest festival in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.^[12] The sport is conducted annually on the second day of the Tamil month Thai. The sport was banned by the Supreme Court in a decision citing cruelty to animals based on a lawsuit filed by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA),^[13] which asserted that it violates the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA).^[14]

The first large protests occurred on 8 January 2017, when several groups, organised largely via social media, conducted a protest at the Marina beach in Chennai to revoke the ban on jallikattu which was imposed in 2014. These groups also demanded that PETA be banned from India.^[15] The protests soon gained momentum and spread all over Tamil Nadu.^[16] After several days of protests, jallikattu was finally legalised locally on 23 January when the Government of Tamil Nadu passed a bill to amend the PCA Act.^[17] As the legalisation is not Indian federal law, but rather state law, there is concern from Indian legal experts that jallikattu could be banned once again by the Supreme Court.^[18][19]

The largely peaceful nature of the protests received praise from all over the country and inspired the legalisation movements of several other Indian states' traditional outlawed celebrations.^[20][21] Despite violence on 23 January, this perception continued after the Tamil Nadu Police^[22] reported that the violence was caused by "anti-social elements" co-opting the protest, and not the student protesters themselves.^{[23][vague][24][25][26]} The movement has been described as a symbol for Tamil pride and has largely been compared to the anti-Hindi agitations of Tamil Nadu and dubbed by many as 'Thai Puratchi'.^[27][28]