Jallikattu row: Social media comes in handy in co-ordinating stir

Chennai: Social media appeared to have played a key role in bringing together thousands of pro-Jallikattu protesters to the sprawling Marina Beach in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu, with updates on the ongoing students’ spontaneous stir and messages flooding the platform. [caption id=“attachment_3210644” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Students gather in Coimbatore to protest against Union Government and against the ban on Jallikattu. PTI[/caption] Sites including Facebook were awash with “Let us be united”, “We want Jallikattu,” and “I support Jallikattu” pages, which together account for lakhs of followers, who kept commenting on the evolving situation and pressing their cause. Facebook pages like “Jallikattu veeravilayattu,” specially designed to spread messages on the bull-taming sport and protest across the state were active with live updates. Special folk songs were uploaded and real time pictures, videos of protests were posted regularly which helped the information reach more and more people, prompting several of them to join hands. For instance, a social media user Manikandan uploaded pictures of protest between Madurai and Theni in ‘Jallikattu veeravilayattu’ Facebook page. A college student here, R Sukumar, said he joined the protests on the Marina Beach responding to a campaign in Facebook by several other students. Balakumar Somu, in his Facebook post said, “I see protests in so many places, from the metros to small towns & villages. So happy to be a part of the enlightened Tamil youth @Tirupur (Collector’s office).” Also, posts like “No Jallikattu, no vote” and “save native cattle” dominated social media sites. Each Jallikattu protest and information related to it got thousands of “likes” on Facebook. A blogger said, “Jallikattu is not bullfight…PeTA should stop equating the sport with bull fighting.” In Twitter, hashtags like “justice for jallikattu,” “save our culture jallikattu” continued to trend through the day with countless messages. Also, messages like “I can arrange dinner, lunch for protestors,” “I can provide drinking water please contact…” were also abound, indicating how the students were organising and managing the protests.