Bengaluru/Delhi: The decks have been cleared for holding the popular buffalo racing sport, Kambala, and other traditional sports using animals in Karnataka, with the Legislative Assembly on Monday amending the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Unanimity
While there was unanimity among legislators on approving the bill introduced by Animal Husbandry Minister A. Manju, BSR Congress member B.R. Patil said that there was a need to debate on the cruelty aspect with the Bharatiya Janata Party only harping on saving cows.
Bharatiya Janata Party member Govind Karjol pointed out that while the government had made the law enabling Kambala, bull race and bullock cart race, there were other popular sports like goat fight, which needed mention in the new Act. There were chances of officials stalling these sports, he added.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T.B. Jayachandra said that there was a provision in the bill to enable any sport involving animals that were a part of the state's cultural heritage. The prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 was enacted to prevent the infliction of unnecessary cruelty and suffering on animals.
However, considering the significant role played by traditional sport events like Kambala in preserving and promoting tradition and culture and in ensuring the survival and continuance of native breeds of cattle, the government has decided to exempt Kambala, bull race and bullock cart race as per the amendment.
A black mark on India: PETA
On a day Karnataka Assembly passed a bill to legalise Kambala, PETA said allowing this “cruelty” to be afflicted on animals is “shameful” and leaves a “black mark” on India. PETA said India has long enjoyed the admiration of nations for its cultural reverence for animals rights but today it moved “backward” when other countries are progressing by banning the use of animals in circuses, bullfights, and other "cruel" spectacles.
“Allowing this cruelty to animals is a shameful black mark on our nation,” Poorva Joshipura, CEO of PETA, India, said. Bowing to the public pressure and in the backdrop of Tamil Nadu government allowing Jallikattu after huge protests, Karnataka Assembly on Monday passed a bill to legalise Kambala and bullock cart race. All parties backed the move in the Assembly. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, was amended in its application to Karnataka by the bill which was tabled after the clamour for Kambala grew. Poorva said the decision to allow Jallikattu has had dire consequences not just for bulls who are "tormented sometimes to death" but also for the more than 5,000 people who were injured or killed during this sport in a span of six years. She said most Indian citizens abhor cruelty to animals but some have been calling for legalisation of events such as bull and buffalo races. The PETA India CEO said that during such races, animals are often hit with nail-studded sticks and not treated nicely. She said examples of sports like cockfights, in which knives are often tied to roosters' feet to make fights bloodier, and bulbul bird fights for which birds are trapped and fed intoxicants, prove that they are subjected to cruelty. Cruelties inherent in these events violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, she said.
