The Big Story: Complete bull

In recent weeks, in the run-up to Pongal, the media has been dominated by discussions about the Supreme Court ban on jallikattu, the ancient Tamil sport of bull baiting that is associated with the harvest festival of Pongal. The issue has become a cornerstone of Tamil nationalist pride, with the chief minister of the state himself encouraging people to flout the law and carry on with the sport.

Here’s one thing that did not dominate the headlines in the same way: drought. All the districts of Tamil Nadu have been declared drought-hit following the worst North-East monsoon in 140 years. At least 144 Tamil farmers are reported io have committed suicide as a result of the drought between October and December.

For an agricultural crisis of this magnitude, it is more than ironic that the main concern around the harvest festival of Pongal has been sport. Just on Wednesday, Chief Minister Panneerselvam announced that the government will ensure that jallikattu bouts are not stopped. “We will not back off even a bit,” said Panneerselvam. “I would like to assure the people of Tamil Nadu that we will uphold the heritage and culture of the Tamils.”

To obsess over a sport at a time of natural calamity points to something dysfunctional in the state’s politics.

The politics of pride in India has taken on some curious forms in the past few years. Even more egregious are plans to spend enormous amounts of money on gigantic statues of Shivaji in Maharashtra and Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat, even as pressing challenges such as agrarian distress, education and health remain unaddressed.

In 2014, India ranked 130th on the Human Development Index released by the United Nations. For a country that cannot provide basic services to its people, to divert scarce resources to matters of pride is near criminal.

The Big Scroll

  1. No harvest, no festive cheer: It’s a black Pongal for drought-hit farmers in the Cauvery delta, reports Vinita Govindarajan.
  2. To ban or not: How jallikattu reveals the hypocrisy of both sides and the problem with online debate, argues Rohan Venkatramakrishnan.

Political Picks

  1. In Tamil Nadu, agitators have declared that they are ready to flout the Central law that bans the bull-baiting sport of jallikattu.
  2. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh alleged that the West Bengal government was not allowing it to hold a Hindu Sammelan in Kolkata city.
  3. Election Commission to hear Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav’s claim to the cycle election symbol.
  4. The Supreme Court rejected a plea to regulate and monitor media content.

Punditry

  1. Governments are making Aadhaar mandatory in contravention of court orders, argues Apar Gupta in the Indian Express.
  2. A cosmetic corporatisation will do nothing to improve Doordarshan or All India Radio, says Jawhar Sircar, former head of Prasar Bharti, in the Hindustan Times.
  3. In the Telegraph, Yusuf Ansari reviews Bertil Falk’s biography of Feroze Gandhi.
  4. Punjab could be headed for a split mandate even as the Akali Dal raises a nativist slogan against the Aam Aadmi Party: Ramesh Vinayak’s Punjab 2017 analysis in the Hindustan Times.

Giggle

Don’t Miss

“Cycle will go, motorcycle will come”: In one Uttar Pradesh village, many Yadavs are rooting for Akhilesh, reports Supriya Sharma.

“But Savitri Yadav could not stop gushing about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s farsightedness. ‘The rich have always oppressed the poor,’ she said. ‘Look at these politicians, they take the votes of the poor. But after they win, they act like rajas. They shoo away the poor and welcome the rich, offering them chairs, giving them tea.’ By demonetising bulk of the currency in circulation from November 9, Modi had taken the wind out of such black money hoarders, she said. “Raja rahin to baajaa baj gayin unka.”

But was she sure the rich had been laid low by demonetisation?

‘Ab dikhaawati baajaa yaa asli mein baajaa, dikhaawati to baajaa bajat waa…’ Whether it is real or fake, at least they appear to have suffered a setback. That’s enough to feel satisfied, she said.”

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