MANGALURU: Kambala organisers and lovers have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the amendments made to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to allow the conduct of the traditional sport.
Ashok Kumar Rai, newly-elected MLA and president of Vijaya-Vikrama Kambala Samithi, Uppinangady, and one of the respondents in the case, told TNIE that the court finally delivered its verdict after a decade-long legal battle to protect the traditional game.
“While I alone fought the legal battle to save Kambala, more than 1,000 people moved the court against the ban on Jallikattu and 500 filed petitions to save the traditional bullock cart race,” he said.
Rai hoped that the apex court’s dismissal of a batch of petitions challenging the amendments in favour of Kambala, Jallikattu and the bullock cart race will put an end to all hurdles faced by the organisers.
Rai, whose family has been organising Kambala for generations, said after the ban on Kambala, several conditions were imposed which made it very difficult for organisers to continue the centuries-old tradition. “They wanted us not to transport buffaloes in vehicles. Not to tweak their tails or yell at them and not to hold Kambala at night and under hot sun,” he said.
Following widespread agitations in Dakshina Kannada, the then Congress government led by Siddaramaiah introduced the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2017. Peta had approached the Supreme Court against the Ordinance. It submitted video evidence to prove that conditions of the Ordinance are not being followed by Kambala organisers, Rai said.
As many as 18 Kambala events are organised in the wetlands of Dakshina Kannada district every year between November and March. Each event witnesses the participation of 200-225 pairs of buffaloes. Besides, nearly 200 small Kambala events will be held during temple fairs that see the participation of 15-20 pairs of buffaloes.