Over 3,000 people, mostly students and techies, are protesting at Chennai's Marina beach since last night demanding permission to host the banned bull-taming festival Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu and a ban on animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA.
Talks by the police with the protesters to disperse have not been successful yet.
As protests continued, two ministers Jayakumar and Ma Foi Pandiarajan met representatives of protesters and assured them that they will approach the centre to issue an executive order (on Jallikattu). "We would echo the public sentiment in Tamil Nadu to the central government," Mr Pandiarajan said. However protesters want to meet Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.
"There's no cruelty for bulls. Courts are for people. It is our right to protest, it's not illegal to protest for banned Jallikattu," says J Rajesh, an IT professional.
The Jallikattu protesters also want a ban on PETA
Overnight protests were also on at Alanganallur in Madurai district, where around 200 people were taken into preventive custody on Tuesday morning after they spent a night protesting.
Senior cops say a few fringe political groups are also behind these protests and mobilising crowd via social media.
The Supreme Court has imposed a ban on the practice currently, citing animal welfare issues. Jallikattu has remained banned for the last three years.
Jallikattu has remained banned for three years
Over the last few days, protesters held Jallikattu, defying Supreme Court's order. Scores of people have been arrested across the state.
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