‘Withdrawal only after bulls cross vadivasal’

The CM announced that ordinance on jallikattu would be passed and the event would be conducted in a day or two. He had also requested the protesters to withdraw their protests but protesters refused to budge.

At Alanganallur, the villagers claimed that they will not move away from the protest place until jallikattu is conducted. One of the protesters Vijayalakshmi said that she had been protesting at Alanganallur for five days and will not move until jallikattu is held. “The Alanganallur vadivasal should be opened and bulls should run from vadivasal. Only then the protests will end,” she said with determination. 

Similarly, a student Adithya, protesting at Tamukkam ground in Madurai, said that they will not be satisfied with jallikattu being conducted with ordinance. They needed amendment in Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to make sure that the bull fight is conducted every year without any problem. Students at Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi too remained rooted to their protest place and claimed that the only solution lies in conducting jallikattu. No other announcement would satisfy them claimed the protesters.

Army man pitch in 

Selvakumar, working in the Army at Jammu and Kashmir joined the protesters at Madurai. Addressing the protesters in the uniform he said that he belonged to Madurai and had come for holidays. He too wanted to see jallikattu. On the bandh call, a near total shutdown of shops and other services was prevalent across the southern districts. Normal life took a back seat as the ranks and file of protesters kept swelling over the week here. 

Large number of devotees were held up at Rameswaram railway station owning to rampant rail rokos and cancellation of trains on Friday.  Students, youths and public resorted to rail roko agitations at several places in Madurai, Sivaganga, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Dindigul and Ramanathapuram districts blocking the movement of several express and passenger trains forcing the Southern railway to divert train movement through alternative routes. 

The train which was stopped near Sellur in Madurai by the protesters on Thursday was stationed at the same spot for more than 24 hours and even the protesters refused to move from the spot. They spent an entire night at the Railway bridge and police too could not send them away. Almost all the trains through Madurai were either cancelled by Southern Railway or were held by the protesters at various places. As a result, hundreds of devotees were left stranded at the Rameswaram railway station. 

However, a large group of people from Maharashtra who were forced to sleep at the station for nearly two days were not complaining. “We too support the cause of native bulls,” they added. Though the bus service to Alanganallur and Palamedu were stopped a week before, service to other routes were operated. However, on Friday most of the services were stopped adding to the woes of the commuting public. Hundreds of people, including women and children laid a siege to Madurai airport.