At least four spectators watching the Jallikattu events in various parts of Tamil Nadu have been killed, and over a 100 including bull-tamers injured in the last three days, yet no one cares as entertainment at the expense of bulls is provided with the state government as patron and supported by the Centre. Strangely, organisations for animal lovers have taken a backseat this year.

Just a year ago, outfits such as Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were up in arms against the central and state governments for trying to hold the Jallikattu events despite ban orders from the Supreme Court in 2011 and 2014.

Chief minister E Palanisamy and deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam had jointly launched the Jallikattu event at Alanganallur on Tuesday. Likewise, ministers presided over similar functions elsewhere in the state. The Animal Welfare Board, which had in the past moved the Supreme Court, along with PETA, against holding the event, has merely released a set of guidelines to be followed by Jallikattu organisers this time.

However, with state police and medical personnel coming under the aegis of the state government, how can they be expected to ensure adherence to the guidelines?

The overwhelming patronage of the state government has meant that animal lovers have been effectively squeezed out. The harsh criticism unveiled against organisations like PETA in the wake of the pro-Jallikattu protests on Chennai’s Marina beach last year – that they were against Tamil culture – has probably thwarted any thought of strident protests by animal welfare organisations this Pongal.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, is very much in force. The 2014 judgment of the Supreme Court asserted that animals as sentient beings have a fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Further, the court referred to five freedoms for animals from the Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare. Are these being observed in the breach?

In just four years, from 2010 to 2014, approximately 1,100 injuries to humans were reported by the media as a result of cruel and dangerous Jallikattu-type events and 17 people died, including a child.

In the past, PETA India documented AWBI-authorised inspections which highlighted that during Jallikattu, terrified bulls are often deliberately disoriented by being given substances like alcohol, having their tails twisted and bitten, being stabbed and jabbed by sickles, spears, knives or sticks and punched, jumped on and dragged to the ground.

Three bulls died during Jallikattu events in 2014. During races, the animals are often hit with nail-studded sticks and pushed beyond the point of exhaustion. In bullfights, which often occur in Goa, a round ends when one of the bulls manages to flee (or is killed), PETA India had pointed out.

On the charge of an international conspiracy to eliminate the rearing of bulls in India, PETA India had said it was not targeting the traditional sport of Tamil Nadu alone but all cruel practices against animals.

“If there’s essentially no monetary benefit to the farmer and no tickets are sold, then the farmers aren’t financially worse off with a ban on Jallikattu and should have no increased incentive to sell their bulls for slaughter,” it said.

PETA India had said cattle breeds in India were changing for many years due to a variety of reasons, even during the decades when Jallikattu was performed. To claim this change was primarily a result of banning the event was preposterous, it said.

“Cattle breeds are largely manipulated by humans to suit their own needs – such as increased milk production. Changes in breed do not mean the extinction of a species. Domesticated cattle are not at risk of being on the endangered species’ list,” PETA said.

Last year, advocate of NGO CUPA, Aparna Bhat, had pointed out that “bulls are peaceful creatures essentially used as farm animals engaged in ploughing and transporting. During the events of Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and bullock cart races in various states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Haryana and Karnataka, the bulls are deliberately agitated and beaten up to make them aggressive in order to perform at these events”.

“Before being sent to the arena, they are provoked, tortured, threatened, starved, administered alcohol and inflicted with pain to make them violent and anguished. As a result of these events, the bull suffers from severe forms of physical and mental injuries and even death,” Bhat added.

Last year, PETA India’s chief functionary Poorva Joshipura too minced no words when she said “terrifying and injuring bulls is abuse, not sport”. “This combined with the injuries and deaths of people common at Jallikattu events puts a bloody stain on India’s reputation in the eyes of the world,” she added.

A video clip showing a man announcing that a 21-year-old woman would be offered as a gift to the person who tames a bull during the Jallikattu event at Periya Anaikaraipatti village near Vaiyampatti in Trichy district had triggered outrage on Monday.

The video went viral. The “announcement”, made by one Palanisamy, aged about 70, at Vaiyampatti Sandhai, said “a 21-year-old unmarried woman from Mettupatti in Salem district will bring a bull along with her and whosoever tames the animal can take the woman and the bull as gifts”.

Embarrassed organisers took Palanisamy to Vaiyampatti police station. He was later let off after he reportedly apologised for his words.

In sharp contrast to the stand taken in the past, AWBI chairman SP Gupta said last week in Chennai that “the board is not against the sentiments of people of a state and their festivals. Our mandate is only to prevent cruelty to animals. The board is in the process of formulating guidelines to conduct Jallikattu. Soon these guidelines will be sent to the state government”.

When asked about PETA’s stand on the Jallikattu issue, Gupta said it was not correct. We will know later whether the AWBI found any deviation from the guidelines.

At the end of the Pongal events, one is left with the question whether the bulls were tamed or were the well-intentioned animal welfare organisations tamed by the Centre-backed Tamil Nadu legislation and government patronage?