Animal rights outrage as India lifts its ban on ‘cruel’ bull-taming festival

India has lifted a ban on a popular but controversial bull running festival, angering animal rights activists who say it is cruel and abusive. A government order said the Jallikattu event, held every January to mark the winter harvest in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, would be allowed to go ahead this year after it was cancelled in 2015. "Bulls may… continue to be exhibited or trained as a performing animal at events such as Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu,“ said the order published by the environment ministry. But Poorva Joshipura, chief executive of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in India, said the group would challenge the move. "We are horrified and aghast over the lifting of ban on Jallikattu,” she said.

Terrified bulls are deliberately disoriented through substances like alcohol, stabbed and jabbed by sickles, spears, knives or sticks, punched, jumped on and dragged to the ground in the so-called sport.

Poorva Joshipura, PETA in India

In the centuries-old festival, bulls are let loose and young men compete to subdue them. Unlike in the Spanish tradition of bull-fighting, the aim is not to kill the animals but to tame them. But critics say they are fed alcohol and have chili powder thrown into their eyes before they are released from a holding pen and chased by revellers. The event was cancelled last year for the first time after the previous government imposed a ban. Over the years, dozens of people have also been killed and hundreds more wounded in the event.

World Jallikattu