Hundreds of Tamil-Americans had held a rally at the Gandhi statue in Washington D.C in the support of their cultural festival, demanding to lift the ban on the bull taming sport.
Where as in Norfolk, Virginia outside the headquarters of PETA dozens of people held protest.
In the rally a large number of children and women holding posters raised their slogans in support of Jallikattu and vented out their anger again the animal rights group “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is leading the support to ban the popular culture by stating it is a torture to the animal.
Babu Vinayagam one of the anti-PETA protestors at the Mahatma Gandhi Statue outside the Indian Embassy in Washington said, that they love their animals and knows how to treat them.
He also said the rally was to show their solidarity with their people how are back home fighting against ban on Jalikattu.
Most of the slogans were written in Tamil, but at times the crowd shouted “Down, Down PETA,” venting their anger towards the animal rights group.
The crowd also shouted “We want Jallikatu.” Vinod Kumar, an IT professional from Tamil Nadu, said, adding, expatriate Tamilians want a permanent solution and an ordinance route to lift the ban on Jallikattu.
He also said that they want a legislative measure, so that this old tradition could be continued forever.
The rally was one of the largest protest and demonstration in front of the Indian Embassy in recent years.
Nalini Britto spoke on behalf of the Greater Washington Tamil Diaspora, which had organized the anti-PETA, pro-Jallikattu rally in Washington, she said that they may be away from home, but their home is always with them, she said they are Tamil people and are proud of their heritage; it was their pride which was being taken away from them.
Jallikettu Tamilians pride activists envy
Meanwhile a local news channel in Virginia reported a protest outside the PETA headquarters in Norfolk.
The news channel reported that dozens of people travelled to Hampton Roads from all across the world to protest outside the PETA headquarters.
Protesters stood outside of the headquarters in Norfolk and told to local news that they were protesting the organizations influence on the court decisions.
Karthik Rangarajan one of the protest organizers said "What PETA has done is that there is a prevention of cruelty act in India, which was backdoor amended, through the lobbying that PETA did."
In a recently released statement, PETA alleged that these protesters are anxious to overturn the court decision and they want to preserve a culture as heinous “as fox hunting was in the UK” and “Bull fighting is in Spain”
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