Lot of my friends have been questioning why should #Jallikattu be practiced for preserving the native breed ?
I am going to try to answer this question with facts!
When a male calf is born, ( the farmers are first sad that it is a male :) ) and then they wait for few months to identify / read the calf to find if it is a jallikattu calf or not.
Not all calves are settled for jallikattu. Usually in recent times say last 15 to 30 years these calves which are not good enough for Jallikattu are being sold for slaughter houses for Rs.500 or so .
And the mutton you eat is mostly mixed with this calf meat . ( I know it is a very sad thing , yet I am stating facts here )
Now the calves which are selected for Jallikattu , are breed for its lifetime to participate in the event.
A Jallikattu kaalai is not castrated , it is used for reproduction.
A kaalai has to be castrated for using in carts or other physical purpose because it is more easier to control.
Because of the use of tractors and motorised vehicles , the bulls have no use other than Jallikattu and hence they are sent to slaughter houses.
So, now if you ban Jallikattu , there will be no bull for reproduction, hence the extinction of our native breed.
We had almost 30+ breeds in TN 100 years back and now only 10 or so are present. And in this Erumai madu is one breed. The other 6 are the ones used in Jallikattu . The rest of the breeds have become extinct.
Why alternative proposals are not worth it?
Now , you can ask for artificial insemination... do you know how much it costs? A farmer hardly makes 1 - 3 lakh a year. When he has a practice in which he can breed cattle for free, why does he have to spent on artificial insemination?
Another proposal was to promote NGO, give donations to save these breeds. Imagine this scenario - People start donating , first year u get millions of Rupees , the next year it reduces 20% , the third year reduces by another 20%. And PETA comes in , buys the person who runs this NGO and down the lane within 10 years , you see that NGO is running only namesake!
Why do we have to complicate all this so much? For 5000 years , we have had a simple event which at no cost has kept the breeds alive. Let it happen with rules and regulations.
I didnt go into the population of the Native breed cow, milk production and A2 type milk, cause it has been spoken enough already!
Hope I have answered all your questions. Please feel free to correct me if i am wrong or ask questions to clarify your doubts.
Vanakam. Vazhga Tamil.
#amendPCA #banpeta #saveourculture #wedojallikattu #justiceforjallikattu Ban PETA India
JALLIKATTU-Veeravilaiyattu
Pic courtesy - FB
