Bulbul and buffalo fights in Assam

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Activists for ban on bird, animal fights during Bihu

Samudra Gupta Kashyap Posted online: Friday, January 18, 2008 at 2243 hrs Print

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*Guwahati, January 17:* Animal rights activists under the banner of People

For Animals (PFA) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

have called for an end to organising fights involving bulbuls, cocks and

buffalos across Assam centering around Bhogali Bihu, the harvest festival of

the state.

 

 

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" Buffalo and bulbul fights are illegal under Section 11(1)(m)(ii) and

Section 11(1)(n) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Such

fights are also equally dangerous for human beings, especially when buffalo

fights are organised in the open without any barricade, " Sangita Goswami,

president of the Assam chapter of PFA, said.

 

The state PFA chapter was also contemplating submission of a public interest

litigation (PIL) in the High Court against people who organise such fights

for animals and birds in the name of upholding tradition. The PFA last week

submitted a memorandum to the Kamrup Deputy Commissioner seeking a ban on

bulbul and buffalo fights in the district.

 

PETA has also written to deputy commissioners in different districts of the

state to ensure that the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Act, 1960 were not flouted in the name of festivals and rituals. Anuradha

Sawhney, an official of PETA, said sharp blades were tied to claws of birds

who fought each other with the intention to kill. At the end of the fight,

the animals had injuries that might lead to the death of the animals, she

said.

 

" We have urged the authorities in the state to put an end to such inhumane

and illegal sports and initiate necessary action against organisers of such

events, " she added.

 

Meanwhile, more than 250 bulbuls (Pycnonotus cafer, Red-vented Bulbul) took

part in a day-long bulbul fight at Hajo, a temple town about 30 km west of

Guwahati, to mark Bhogali Bihu on Tuesday. Organised for over 200 years now,

this annual event is a peculiar contest between the people in and around the

Hayagriva-Madhava temple of Hajo, with the participating birds and their

trainers divided into two groups or clans called Bharali-tola and

Sonari-tola.

 

While the organisers of bulbul fights at Hajo claim that the birds are set

free after the contest gets over, animal rights activists like Sangita

Goswami contend that the birds are gathered from their nests even when they

are chicks, and fed on drugs and various intoxicating materials before they

are engaged in the fights.

 

Buffalo fight, on the other hand, is a popular event in Nagaon and other

districts of central Assam during Bhogali Bihu, with winners getting cash

awards that organisers offer them.