Kambala, the traditional bull-racing sport gets a yes from the Indian President

What’s the story?

President Pranab Mukherjee declared an order that legalised Kambala – that involves bull races and bullocks cart races, as a traditional sport on Monday. This order translates into exempting them from the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The context

An official declaration from the President’s office stated that the “President has President has approved the promulgation of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance, 2017. Now, Kambala is officially legal in Karnataka.”

This comes after the Karnataka Assembly passed an ordinance legalising Kambala earlier this year.

The heart of the matter

The Animal Husbandry Minister for the state had reached out to the BJP legislator seeking a quick approval from the Union Home Ministry and the President after the bill was passed unanimously in the Karnataka state Assembly on the 13^th of February. Seeking to permit Kambala legally in the state, the bill declares that no animal would be harmed in the proceedings of the race.

The state announcement clearly reinforces that this is to be an animal-friendly event.

The intention of the bill is to preserve traditional forms of sport and even the opposition had received the move positively reinforcing the need for lengthy deliberations on such matters by the judiciary. Jagdish Shettar, the leader of the opposition, added that a single complaint against the sport should not render the entire sport to be banned.

Starting every November and lasting until March, Kambala is an annual Buffalo Race festival held traditionally under the sponsorship of local landlords and households, in coastal Karnataka. Many villages including smaller remote villages like Vandaru and Gulvadi host more than 45 races currently.

The 300-year-old sport has attracted a lot of criticism primarily for the ill treatment of the bulls during the race but continues to be cheered upon by the locals. One of the legislators commented on the kind nature of bull owners who reportedly treat their bulls as kings and keep them in comfort. So far, there haven’t been any fatalities reported as a result of the sport.

What’ next?

Regardless of how clearly the bill talks about animal safety, one can safely assume that in the upcoming days, this bill is going to attract criticism from a wide population of people, especially animal activists that have been protesting for a long time for such form of sports to be banned from the country.

Author’s take

The conundrum of balancing between preserving tradition and ensuring safety for animals seems to be a difficult one, but there is no denying that animal rights need to be the priority of the matter, despite the legalisation of the sport. The responsibility, therefore, comes down to the implementation of this law in following this promise of safety that has been given to the animals concerned.