Two major carbonated soft drink brands, the whole world knows are ‘Coke’ and ‘Pepsi’. The companies are earning good revenue from big countries like India. Nowhere, but in Tamilnadu (a state in India), the Coke and Pepsi products got banned recently. If at all, other states of India follow the same ban, obviously there will be a dip in both the companies’ revenue. This ban was not declared by the Government; however it was implemented by the retailers’ association of the state. People are pleased with this ban, as both the brands are foreign-based and they are trying to establish their factories in India which could exploit the water resources majorly.
It started from where?
Jallikattu Movement – It’s all started from here. Many of the people are unaware of the word ‘Jallikattu’. It is nothing but a traditional bull taming sport conducts in Tamilnadu during the harvest season in the month of January. This annual sport was in practice for many thousands of years before the complete ban of the sport happened in the year 2014. The case was filed against Jallikattu by the PETA organization in the Supreme Court of India, stating that cruelty is getting happened to bulls in the name of sport. People are not happy with the judgment of the court since the sport is a traditional one and the bulls are being part of their family.
So they started to protest against the ban of Jallikattu. First day of the movement was happened in ‘Marina Beach – World’s second longest beach’ by the students belong to various colleges and universities. Their slogans were, ‘Save Jallikattu’, ‘Save Native Breeds of Bull’ and ‘Ban PETA’. Slowly it got momentum and several NGO, Associations, Celebrities, Students, Engineers, Nurses, Advocates, etc., came forward to give their voices. Huge number of people started gathering in different parts of the state and also in other states of the country like Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, etc. It not only got restricted within the country, but also went around the world. People belongs to Tamilnadu who got settled in countries like US, Australia, UK, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Srilanka, etc., supported the cause.
Later the people put many demands in front. Additional slogans added to the list were ‘Save Farmers’, ‘Save Water’, ‘Ban Coke and Pepsi’, ‘Ban Foreign Products’, etc., While this protest was going on, there was a sudden announcement from the ‘Traders Association of Tamilnadu’. The announcement was, ‘Banning Coke and Pepsi products in Tamilnadu from March 1st, 2017’. It was appreciated by the people greatly. This in turn, silently promoted many other local soft drink brands like ‘Kalimark’, ‘Narimark’, etc., and also increased the sales of natural tender coconut largely. And finally Jallikattu Movement also tasted success, after Government passing a new law, by uplifting the ban on Jallikattu on January 23rd, 2017.
It was how the ban of Coke and Pepsi products happened in Tamilnadu. The reason for the protest was something beyond. But the goal – ‘Giving priority to native’ was reached to some extent.
Blogs By Moni PD 