The administration remains a mute spectator during every festive season in prohibiting cockfights since the festival receives active political patronage.
Yalamanchili Subba Rao, a farmer from the capital region in Amaravati, galloped into a sprawling pandal with a bulging cash bag in his arms to bet on the rooster of his choice. The ring is surrounded by a huge gallery packed with crowds seated in rows, watching the fun in a mango garden at Pedapaka, 10 kms away from the West Godavari district headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, which beckoned lovers of cockfights from far and wide.
This place is considered a safe haven for the sport since it allegedly received patronage from the local TDP MLA Chintamaneni Prabhakar, who is also the government whip. No police officer ventured into the venue to enforce the law – cockfights are illegal. Even media personnel sought to play it safe.
The ground is circular in shape with enclosures around, and the spilled blood epitomised the valour of the game birds. There was a beehive of activity, with punters letting their birds into the battleground, their masters holding them in arms and caressing their feathers, preparing them for the blood sport.
“I brought Rs 10 lakh. I am sure the MLA’s birds will tear those of rivals into pieces,” says Subba Rao, with a battle cry writ large on his face while comforting his son, a sixth standard student, on a sofa in the front row. They arrived from their village in their SUV, a brand-new car. His 60 acres of agricultural land, bought by the government under the land-pooling scheme for capital construction in his native Mandadam village, reportedly fetched him Rs. 90 crore. In addition, he is receiving Rs. 50,000 per acre per year, as a solatium from the government. Besides, he earned not less than Rs. 3 crore as commission for brokerage in land transactions in the last three years in the capital region, he says.
Subba Rao was egged on by a punter, “MLA’s birds gained an upper hand over those on the other side six times in a row since morning.” An enthused Rao was prepared to bet Rs 25,000 in each round of the game. A ringside view of this writer revealed that betting ranged up to Rs 3 lakh for each game that took place between the owners of the birds in the main ground. Similarly, betting which took place in the galleries, involving onlookers, crossed Rs 25 lakh each time, it is said. An organiser said 20 games took place from noon to evening on Day-1, and it will go on at a similar pace in the next two festive days as well. Each game finished in a span of hardly five minutes, even as another round would begin with a gap of 15-20 minutes which is required to bring the birds into the ground, selecting the “best ones” to pit against each other and arming them with sharp-edged knives.
Gundukolanu plays host to cockfights during Sankranti festival in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
The sport continued even after sunset under floodlights.
Video-graphing and taking photographs were strictly prohibited. All the three gunmen, apparently attached to the MLA, were at their best enforcing the unwritten law. A visitor who came from Hyderabad was thrashed for trying to shoot the event with his mobile camera. When a student resorted to a similar act, a gunman menacingly approached him in the galleries and saw that the visuals were erased.
The MLA is a multi-tasker. He is said to be rearing birds in his farm in his constituency and allegedly organises the cockfights. Besides, he himself plays the game by letting his birds into the ground.
Koppaka, a nondescript village, has dominated the delta areas like Bhimavaram, Narasapuram and Akiveedu in West Godavari district in cockfights in the recent past, drawing crowds from Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari districts. Its fame is credited to Prabhakar’s prowess to keep the officialdom away.
One has to pass through several layers of checking points, heavily guarded by an army of his followers, before reaching the venue. Passes were issued to the visitors under the nose of the MLA and his close aides.
Subba Rao’s son was heard asking his father, “What’s the fun of the fights without knives tied to the cocks?” The boy was obviously referring to the Supreme Court’s direction for the sport.
There were no signs, whatsoever, of executing the Supreme Court’s ruling anywhere in the Krishna and the Godavari delta regions. East Godavari is represented by Home Minister N. Chinnarajappa, and the cockfights with high-staked betting went on in a hassle-free manner in Konaseema region that forms part of his district on the first day. Reports suggested at least Rs 500 crore changed hands in the name of betting in the two Godavari districts on Day-1 and another Rs 100 crore in Krishna and Guntur districts. Attempts to reach out to the West Godavari SP M Ravi Prakash Babu over phone, to know the fate of the high court direction did not yield results.
The administration remains a mute spectator during every festive season in prohibiting cockfights under the Andhra Pradesh Cruelty Against Animals Act, 1960, since it receives active political patronage. There were instances where senior police officers, who attempted to enforce the rule of law during the festival period, were shunted out. Besides, public representatives of the ruling party resorted to protests, seeking to rein in the tough cops so as to ensure that cockfights would go on unchecked. #KhabarLive
I simply want to mention I am very new to blogging and certainly loved you’re web-site. More than likely I’m planning to bookmark your site . You definitely have wonderful well written articles. Thanks for sharing your web page.
MetroClick specializes in building completely interactive products like Photo Booth for rental or sale, Touch Screen Kiosks, Large Touch Screen Displays , Monitors, Digital Signages and experiences. With our own hardware production facility and in-house software development teams, we are able to achieve the highest level of customization and versatility for Photo Booths, Touch Screen Kiosks, Touch Screen Monitors and Digital Signage. Visit MetroClick at http://www.metroclick.com/ or , 121 Varick St, New York, NY 10013, +1 646-843-0888
Hello just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the images aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the same results.
http://webseoindonesia.net/
Hiya there, just got mindful of your website through The Big G, and discovered that it is seriously informational. I’ll truly appreciate if you decide to maintain this.
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post’s to be what precisely I’m looking for. Does one offer guest writers to write content for you personally? I wouldn’t mind writing a post or elaborating on many of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome website!
Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any solutions to prevent hackers?
I really like what you guys are up too. This type of clever work and reporting! Keep up the terrific works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to blogroll.
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
I do not know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everyone else experiencing problems with your blog. It appears like some of the text within your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let me know if this is happening to them too? This might be a problem with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Kudos
Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same subjects? Thanks!
Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is valuable and all. However just imagine if you added some great photos or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and clips, this site could undeniably be one of the greatest in its field. Good blog!
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed information. Great read! I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
This design is steller! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Greetings! I’ve been reading your website for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Humble Tx! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!
Google
Below you will come across the link to some web-sites that we assume you ought to visit.
Comments are closed.