Following in the footsteps of Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly tabled the bill to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 to legalise Kambala, bullock cart racing and Kobbari Hori.
A bill was tabled in the Vidhana Sabha on Friday by Minister of Animal Husbandry, A Manju and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandra.
Kambala is a buffalo race practiced in coastal Karnataka and so is the bullock cart race and Kobbari Hori.
Bulls are decked up and placed in pens or horis. They are allowed to run loose and the possession of the bull goes to the person who catches it.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced that the amended bill would be introduced in the assembly session when pro-kambala protests had erupted in certain parts of the state in January after the massive people’s movement to restore jallikattu in Tamil Nadu.
BJP MLA, Sunil Kumar, had on Tuesday, displayed placards in the assembly, demanding that the ban on kambala be lifted.
“The state government has already taken a stand that a bill will be introduced in the session. The government is in favour of kambala. The BJP is holding up cards for publicity,” the CM had countered.
As the matter is in the concurrent list, the bill requires the President’s assent.
The Karnataka government took up the kambala cause following public demand, especially in coastal Karnataka.