The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday dismissed the State government’s petition seeking modification of its January 2016 order banning the controversial tonga race.
A Division Bench headed by Justice Govind Mathur dismissed the application on the grounds that no material was available to establish that horses were not subjected to cruelty during the event.
The tonga race would be held every year in the Jat-dominated Nagaur region. Amid heavy traffic, horse carts ran for 36 km on hard concrete or tarred road on the Mundiad-Kharnal-Nagaur route. The race formed a part of fairs dedicated to Lord Ganesha and Lord Tejaji.
The High Court, however, had outlawed the event citing cruelty to horses. The last race took place at Mundiad in 2014.
Public sentiments
Following this, several MLAs had approached Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje seeking to revive the race on the pretext of “public sentiments”.
Jat leaders of the region, which is a hotbed of politics in Rajasthan, maintain that the race is a matter of people’s faith and religious traditions and does not involve any cruelty to horses.
Hanuman Beniwal, an Independent MLA from Khinvsar, had demanded that the State government adopt the ordinance route, taking a cue from Tamil Nadu’s move on Jallikattu.
Ms. Raje had recently promised to find a “positive solution” to the issue, while the political leadership and administrative machinery tried to get a legal way out to restart the event.
SC examining matter
The High Court’s judgment has been challenged on the grounds that it had erroneously followed the ban on Jallikattu. A special leave petition against this judgment is pending in the Supreme Court. The apex court is examining whether horses can be equated with bulls at the event.
The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, which had filed an intervention application in the High Court, had pointed out that the State government had categorically agreed in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that tonga races were “inherently cruel” to horses.
Published - September 01, 2017 08:57 pm IST
