On the fourth day of the pro-jallikattu protests, there seems to be no dearth of activity among the swelling crowds on Marina beach. Slogans break out from the protesters every now and then, as they hold their posters enthusiastically. A closer look at the posters reveals the sentiments of the agitators.
The posters also show that the anger among the thousands gathered is not merely about the Supreme Court ban, but about many other things.
There is, of course, anger towards PETA, the animal rights organisation which fought the legal battle to ban jallikattu. But there is also anger towards the BJP government as well as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and their failure to revoke the ban which was imposed in May 2014.
The massive public anger also seems to be a result of a sense of injustice that Tamilians have felt in the past - the Cauvery issue for instance, adding to their dissatisfaction with the central as well as state authorities.
A sample of the posters at the Marina beach:
It says, “Ask him to come!! Ask him to come!! Ask OPS to come!! #StateGovernment”
Employing sarcasm, this one says, “The most precious of jewels, where are you, Paneeeselvam?”
“Until Vadivasal is opened, we won't go home,” reads this poster.
“Tamil Nadu government! Indian Government! Stop violence against students who are protesting peacefully.”
The poster above says, “PETA dies unexpectedly”. Many other anti-PETA posters were also carried by protesters.
PTI photo
This one uses the argument that banning jallikattu will lead to native breeds of bulls dying out.
PTI photo
There were also people holding up pictures of PM Narendra Modi with crosses drawn on it: an expression of displeasure at the centre’s unwillingness to promulgate an ordinance allowing jallikattu.
PTI photo
Subramanian Swamy and protesters have been in a Twitter war with the BJP leader questioning the youth taking to the streets when the matter is sub-judice.
There were also references to Tamil pride and culture:
"Don't mess with sharp horns."
"Tamil is our identity, jallikuttu is our culture."
"We don't destroy them with arrogance, we hug them by the hump. That is jallikattu."
PTI photo
In the above photo, the poster on the bottom right says, "Let's come together to fight. Victory will be ours". The one directly above it, reads: "Let's save Tamil culture. Let's rescue Tamil identity."