Avaniyapuram jallikattu: Tokens distributed amid chaos; many bull owners return home disappointed

MADURAI: Chaos prevailed at

Avaniyapuram

in Madurai district on Monday as hundreds of

bull owners

from various places thronged there and behaved in an unruly manner. They didn’t follow Covid-19 safety norms. Police had a tough time in controlling them and used a mild force to control them.

Tokens

for bulls participating in the

Avaniyapuram jallikattu

, scheduled to take place on January 14, were issued at a school. The crowd often turned unruly, resulting in chaos and confusion. Bull owners from Madurai and other districts thronged there and vied with one another to get tokens. Many of them did not wear masks. Social distancing went for a toss as no one bothered to follow it.

Many bull owners left disappointed as they did not get a token even after waiting for 12-15 hours. They alleged that only a few tokens were distributed and most of them were kept aside for influential people.

S Senthil Kumar, a bull owner from Kulamangalam in Madurai district, said, "I reached here at 7pm on Sunday. I stood in the queue facing various challenges. I was beaten up by police a few times. There were only around 20 people ahead of me in the queue, but I could not get one," he said.

"I tried to get the token last year too but could not get it. Eventually, I got a token sold in black at Rs 2,000 to release my bull at jallikattu event," he added.

Bull owners opined that better preparation could have been made. They said the district administration should ensure that jallikattu committees distribute the token transparently.