Banned rooster fight held at Kovai collectorate

The youth claiming themselves to be the members of Rastriya Hindu Parishad, pressed for the need to protect the traditional games such as rooster fight, jallikattu, rekla race and silambattam . 

“When online rummy is permitted why not permit the traditional game (rooster fight), which has been falsely identified with gambling?” District president of the organisation S Vinod alias Rajarathinam questioned. He added that those organising rooster fights are arrested by the police under gambling charges.

“Such games are identical with the culture of Tamil Nadu. Ban on these sports and games due to various reasons will put an end to the cultural identity of the State. With the festival season of Pongal round the corner we want the Union and state governments to take appropriate steps to preserve our traditional sports,” he said. 

“Listing of bulls as protected animals has resulted in a ban on jallikattu and rekla race. Almost all the traditional games in our region are not given any encouragement,” he said. In a petition to the Collector, during the weekly grievances day meeting, they asked to make jallikattu a national sport. The organisation also wanted the Doordarshan (DD) to make documentaries on the traditional sports and games and air the same to remove misconceptions about them.