CHENNAI: Condemning Union Minister Menaka Gandhi’s remarks on Jallikattu, PMK founder S Ramadoss on Friday said her utterances showed that she did not have a basic understanding of the sport as it was totally different from the bull fight held in Europe and Mexico.
While the bull fight conducted in France, Spain, Portugal and Mexico involved tricking the bulls and killing them, the challenge in Jallikattu was to retrieve the gifts tied to the horns of the bulls, the PMK leader said. Those participating in Jallikattu enter the arena with bare hands, while participants of bull fights were armed with lethal weapons like knives and spears, Ramadoss pointed out.
Menaka Gandhi’s remarks that both men and bulls were killed in Jallikattu was the height of absurdity and ignorance, he said and asserted that bulls were not tortured in the sport held in Tamil Nadu. Menaka should stop her mud-slinging at Jallikattu and read the history of the sport and the culture of Tamils before commenting, he said.
As Menaka Gandhi had said that the BJP was opposing Jallikattu, the party leadership should explain whether it agreed with her views, Ramadoss said and added that her statement amounted to rubbing salt on the wounds of the Tamil people who were hurt by the ban on Jallikattu.
She had denigrated the culture and valour of Tamils with her comment that Jallikattu was based on the bull fight of the Western countries and cruel. She had not understood the basic differences between bull fight and Jallikattu, the PMK leader added.