Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on Tuesday banned buffalo and bulbul bird fights by setting aside and quashing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the Assam government of 2023 that allowed these events during a specific time in January.
The order was based on writ petitions filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India. The court passed the order after hearing detailed submissions made by PETA India’s counsel, senior advocate Diganta Das.
PETA India argued that buffalo and bulbul fights violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, and that the bulbul fights additionally violate the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The court held the SOP to be violative of the May 7, 2014, judgement passed by the Supreme Court in the Animal Welfare Board of India versus A Nagaraja case.
As evidence, PETA India had submitted investigations into these fights, which revealed that terrified and severely injured buffaloes were forced to fight through beatings and that starved and intoxicated bulbuls were made to fight over food.
PETA India had also submitted numerous examples of fights being held illegally, outside the dates allowed via the SOP, arguing that allowing the fights at any time of the year was resulting in enormous animal abuse.
“Buffaloes and bulbuls are gentle animals who feel pain and terror and do not want to be forced into bloody fights in front of jeering crowds,” said PETA India lead legal counsel Arunima Kedia.
“PETA India is grateful to the Gauhati High Court for prohibiting cruelty to animals in the form of fights, which are clear violations of central law and Supreme Court orders,” Kedia further said.
Buffalo and bulbul bird fights are part of the Assamese tradition, which dates back to the days of Ahom ruler Swargadeo Pramatta Singha. They are organised during Magh Bihu, also called Bhogali Bihu, when people soak in the festive spirit.