Shiban Khaibri
Supreme Court of India, as we all know, acts as bulwark of the constitution of our country, it also protects our values and the social fabric. Of late, we are bound to believe that the so called “judicial overreach ” has become a necessity and in the absence of the interference of the Apex Court in “other ” domains , things could turn worse. Most of the political class acquiescing judicial “activism” or not is to be overlooked. That is precisely, because unfortunately in this country, politics has developed tendencies to become an absolute tool of convenience or a mode of winning votes to get a berth in the legislative assemblies, the Parliament, the panchayats and even the civic bodies. For getting these votes, you can (mis)use religion, region, caste, language, pride and above all, the ready “reckoner” of secularism. This secularism has been made so varied, so lavish in interpretation and so cheap in usage to score points, that many a time, this political term needs a new and inelastic definition. For this vote, the father can go to this extent so as to accuse his own son, a Chief Minister of being anti Muslim and yet claim to be a champion of secularism and vow to unitedly “fight” a decisive battle against the forces of “sampradayakta”. For this very vote, another champion of secularism plus social justice, Mayawati Ji can take mafia turned politician Mukhtar Abbas Ansari and his entire family into her party “committed to fight Gunda Raj and criminals” and be generous enough to give tickets to him, his son and other family members to contest elections scheduled to be held in UP very shortly.
Through these very columns, this writer had briefly mentioned about the considered directions by a bench of seven judges of the country’s Apex Court against using religion, faith, caste etc in election campaigns to influence voters under the caption, “Now , Vote Bank Bandhi”.
Likewise, the highest court of the country came to the rescue of the “Bezubaan” animals and passed a landmark judgment against Jallikatu where animals, in particular bulls must not be used in races, bull fights or any other type of performances whereby these animals were subjected to cruelty, injuries, punching, kicking, tail twisting, jumping on backs, dragging with ropes tied, etc. This judgment was given in favour of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI). Why should cruel events where animals are seen being harassed, tortured, bled, and even killed be enjoyed in the name of sport or culture or the pride, is difficult to comprehend. While full regard and considerations must be spared for upholding our ancient culture, customs and traditions, the same must have the inbuilt mechanism of changing with the times. Continuing with a rigid stand with no scope of any dilution or amends in this modern age cannot be readily acceptable. It is another thing to have it by hook or by crook by hoodwinking the judicial system, the legal processes and the country wide considerations which could not be assured of not getting boomeranged into national problems.
It is a travesty, on the other hand, that the Act to deal with the cruelty to animals has not been reviewed since 1960 and the Apex Court has opined that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act needed an update. The speed with which the previous Government functioned can be gauged by the fact that in spite of a draft Animal Welfare Act having been formulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests way back in early 2011, it was not passed and the NDA Government too has made no progress on it so far. The traditional wrestling between the man and the bull , tying some coins or small ornaments with the horn of the bull in a small pouch as a stake money to be earned by the one who subdued or “defeated” the bull in the wrestling, though banned by the apex court was sought to be fought out , resisted and caused to be reversed . And the peoples’ agitation succeeded in circumventing the court order .
A small feeling, an undercurrent on account of denial of allowing “celebration” of a sport called Jallikatu for the sake of preventing cruelty to innocent animals , turned into a full fledged agitation in Tamil Nadu under the pretext of protecting the “symbol of Tamil culture” and it grew within a couple of days with more and more people joining it , student leaders, film celebrities , political leaders out of power and the like. This agitation got a short in the arm , a boost since the electronic media telecast “generously” clips of agitations, sit in dharnas, protests, banners, running stories for hours, holding debates and panel discussions with every news slots for as many days as this agitation was conducted. It appeared as if there were no other pressing issues in the country excepting Jalli kattu to be discussed, reported, debated, “expert” views sought and repeatedly aired . It appeared for full seven days that the nation had resolved all its problems concerning the people and only Jalli Kattu remained unresolved. In the name of Tamil pride , Tamils living all over the world came to know about denial of Jalli Kattu and hence felt “aggrieved”. In fact, the media did the job of “connecting” the entire Tamil community into one entity on the issue.
Let the issue be analysed with an open mind just for the sake of not encouraging the dangerous trend gaining ascendency in the country to go against court verdicts, even against the highest court of the country which in all its wisdom and discretion gave its landmark verdict in the case referred to it by an appellant. Why had the Madras High Court way back in 2006 ordered to ban Jalli Kattu is very important to know. The “cultural” old practice of displaying of bravery in this “competition” of wrestling between the man and the bull, for many decades , a climb down in the set rules hovering over the due considerations for the animal started getting more bizarre and the same got substituted by cruelty , injuries, torture and even disability to the animal. A shift from villages to cities made this sport undergo changes to the extent of inflicting cruelty to the hapless animal. How can in this country, where even so much care is taken to ensure even an ant or an insect not to get injured when we walk on the road, can justify cruelties to animals? How can we afford to have no regard for the legal system and the legal processes ? How can most of the political leaders in Tamil Nadu continue to be welled about only the local issues and concerning only Tamil interests? We have not seen senior leaders like Karunanidhi and others ever talking about or showing any concern about the burning national issues except having strong views against the Sri Lanka Governments?
Manipur is an important Indian state in the North East and the people there are under an economic siege for the last 90 days. A litre of petrol is sold for Rs. 400 and a gas cylinder (refill) for over Rs. 3000 . People do not get potatoes and onions like basic daily items of use even at Rs. 100 to Rs. 150 a kilo, is that problem not concerning our politicians in Tamil Nadu ? Are they not our own fellow Indians? It is an established fact that the notorious Pakistani ISI has established a base in Sri Lanka and is tasked to rattle Tamil Nadu with disturbances, should agitations like Jallikattu be encouraged by the politicians there when at many places anti national slogans were raised and violence too resorted to ? In Kanpur, rail derailments killed innocent passengers because of espionage by ISI agents, should leaders in TN not be concerned about that? What are the broader repercussions if verdicts of the Apex court are reversed under pressures from mob fury and agitations leading to passing of resolutions in the state Assemblies followed by promulgation of ordinances ? Is it not suicidal if the cardinal constitutional institutions of the country – guaranteeing our fundamental rights and correct interpretation of our constitution and systems, are rendered compromised?
Where are we going? Some organizations and social bodies from Karnataka and Maharashtra too have expressed that they would fight existing bans on such events in the same way? Are we heading towards anarchy and lawlessness? Are sectarian and regional prides more important than the national pride? Should responsible political parties sitting in opposition like the Congress support anti ban movement just to embarrass the government ? Can we allow the writ and the authority of the Apex Court of the country to be compromised in any way whatsoever? If after 70 years of our independence , we still think about fragmented small issues, who will take care of and resolve our bigger, sensitive and grave national issues?
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