Mangaluru: A sea of protesters marched together with beasts, on Saturday shouting slogans to remove the ban on ‘Kambala’ – terming it as a traditional sport of coastal Karnataka.
The march began from Balmatta and culminated with a protest meet in front of the DC’s office. The protesters walked along with over 187 pairs of buffaloes, to the beats of drums. The crowd – mostly farmers and fans of ‘Kambala’ – was seemingly led by bunts in two Fortuner cars, during the procession.
Kambala (slush track buffalo race) is a popular traditional folk sport in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. But the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences banned the “Kambala” in Udupi district on November 15 and in Dakshina Kannada district on November 21, following objections raised by the Animal Welfare Board of India.
Addressing the gathering in front of DC’s office, Bhaskar S. Kotian, president of District Kambla Samiti said there are no incidents of death in the history of ‘Kambala’. Although, there was cruelty, it has been drastically reduced now”.
To the claims of critics that the buffalo is not meant for racing, he said not all the buffaloes are used for the race. Only selected buffaloes are used and they are trained. We treat the buffaloes like our babies. We don’t hit them. We do not put pepper powder and salt on its back and hit it to run faster. ‘Kambala’ has seen a lot of changes recently – in terms of reducing cruelty”, he said and challenged, “our buffaloes will run faster than a horse”.
He also warned the government to ban cow slaughter which is cruel in nature instead of ‘Kambala’. He also asked the district administration and animal welfare board to not to compare ‘Jallikattu’, which is banned in Tamil Nadu and ‘Kambala’, stressing that ‘Kambala’ does not involve cruelty.
Gunapal Kadamba, an office bearer of the Samiti and who runs the Kambala Academy, said the district administration has banned the traditional sport without giving any prior notice. “More than 6 lakhs was spent to arrange for Kambala in Shirva. And, the administration warned not to organize it the day before the event”, he said.
Dr. Jeevan Das Ballal said Kambala is not a commercial event. In total, there are at least 200 kambala events that are organized across coastal Karnataka, he said. He also promised to further refine the event in terms of cruelty.
Later, the members of district kambala samiti submitted a memorandum to DC A.B Ibrahim. MLC’s Ivan D’Souza, Ganesh Karnik who were among others present at the protest meet. The memorandum stated that in the past Kambala was seen as an event held in support of the government and ban on it is a black spot on our tradition.
