Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reiterated Centre’s commitment towards Tamil Nadu saying ‘all efforts were being made to realise the cultural aspirations of its people’.
"We are very proud of the rich culture of Tamil Nadu. All efforts are being made to fulfil the cultural aspirations of Tamil people," the Prime Minister tweeted.
"Central government is fully committed to the progress of Tamil Nadu and will always work to ensure the state scales new avenues of progress," he wrote.
The Prime Minister’s comments came in the wake of the Centre's nod on Friday evening to Chief Minister O Panneerselvam government's Ordinance to enable holding of Jallikattu.
The Supreme Court in May 2014 banned Jallikattu, saying that bulls cannot be used as performing animals including bullock-cart races. Since then, people have been urging the central government to take steps to allow the sport. The common complaint among the protest leaders was that the Supreme Court had insulted Tamil culture by disallowing the traditional sport observed during the harvest festival of Pongal.
On Friday, the Supreme Court agreed not to pronounce its verdict on Jallikattu for one week in the wake of large scale protests in Tamil Nadu. A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra agreed to put the pronouncement on hold on a plea by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who told the court that ‘cultural passions’ were running high in the state.
The apex court had in 2016 reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions by animal rights activist and organisations challenging a January 7, 2016, government notification taking out bulls from the list of animals that cannot be exhibited or used for fights or races. The notification was then stayed by the top court a week after its issuance.
The court was informed that both the Centre and Tamil Nadu were in touch and some measures were being taken to tackle the situation that surfaced in light of the harvest festival of Pongal in which the ancient animal sport has special significance.
In Jallikattu, a bull vaulter is expected to hang on to the animal's hump for a stipulated distance or hold on to the hump for a minimum of three jumps made by the bull. The sport is traditionally held as part of the four-day Pongal festival in the state.
