VIJAYAWADA: Actors, directors and other technicians of Tollywood including actors Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu, on Friday, extended their support for the Justice for Jallikattu campaign and protests by people of Tamil Nadu.
Actor and Jana Sena party president Pawan Kalyan went a step ahead and urged the Central government to withdraw ban on Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu as well as cockfights in Andhra Pradesh. He termed the ban on Jallikattu and Kodipandem (cockfights) as an attack on Dravida culture and its integrity.
"The Government of India cited 'animal cruelty' as the reason for the ban of Jallikattu and Kodipandem. If we truly consider this puritanical approach, then we have to examine the statistics of beef export and poultry industry in the country. Many cows, calves and buffaloes were slaughtered to get 2.4 million tonnes of beef exported from India in 2015. How come this kind of slaughtering does not amount to animal cruelty? " he questioned.
Pawan Kalyan said that cockfights had deep religious siginificance associated with Lord Kukkuteswara, a form of Lord Shiva who came as a rooster to kill an asura called Gayasura. "Kodipandem is the cultural identity of Andhras. If the Central government is serious about enforcing Animal Cruelty Act then they should ban poultry industry which produces around 8.4 lakh tonnes of poultry meat by killing millions of chicken," he added.
Actor Mahesh Babu joined the pro Jallikattu league stating the sport is the spirit of Tamil Nadu. "Proud to see such a unity among Tamilians for something that they truly believe in. Admiration for the students who are standing up for the cause and fighting relentlessly for their roots and culture. Hope their voices are heard," he added. Young actor Akhil quickly retweeted Mahesh Babu's take on Jallikattu.
Similarly, Rana Daggubati, Ram, Sandeep Kishan and several others too voiced for the cause and extended their support to the protestors especially the students.