Assam to enact new law for allowing buffalo fights: Himanta

Jagiroad (Assam), Feb 1 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said his government would bring a new law to allow buffalo fights in the state.

Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a bridge here, Sarma said the government will take the initiative to preserve the heritage of the state.

“The buffalo fight of Ahatguri is our tradition and heritage. Even the Supreme Court had recognised it as a traditional game. Following its guidelines, we will soon enact a law allowing traditional sports like buffalo fight,” he said.

The state government will very soon introduce a bill in the assembly, seeking legal protection for the buffalo fight, he added.

Sarma said, “With the enactment of the law, people will be able to watch and enjoy the traditional buffalo fight.”

In December last year, the Gauhati High Court scrapped an Assam government SOP of 2023 which had allowed buffalo and bulbul bird fights during the Magh Bihu festivities in the month of January every year.

The court had further held that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was in violation of a Supreme Court judgement of May 2014.

On January 15 last year, traditional bulbul bird fights were organised after a hiatus of around nine years following a new set of guidelines issued by the Assam government.

Both events resumed after the state Cabinet approved the SOP in December 2023. The SOP focussed on the safety of the animals, including a ban on the use of any intoxicating drugs or sharp weapons to control the animals.

The bulbul bird fight is famously held at Hayagriva Madhav temple in Hajo of Kamrup district on the Magh Bihu day in mid-January, attracting hundreds of visitors.

Likewise, the buffalo fights take place at the same time in Morigaon, Sivasagar and some Upper Assam districts, but Ahatguri in Morigaon is the most celebrated.

Sarma along with his family had witnessed both buffalo and bulbul bird fights in January last year and urged the organisers to follow the SOP.