The Gauhati High Court has temporarily halted any future buffalo fight, known as moh-juj in Assamese, in response to a plea by PETA.

What is Moh-Juj?

• The traditional buffalo fight (Moh-Juj) is an integral Bihu celebration of Assam.
• Buffalo or bulbul or nightingale fights have been traditionally organised as part of the Bhogali Bihu celebrations.
• It is held during the Magh Bihu celebrations in mid-January every year.

PETA’s Petition

• The petition by the animal rights organisation highlighted multiple infringements of central laws during these events, including instances of severe cruelty inflicted on buffaloes.
• Investigation has revealed distressing practices such as physical abuse to incite fights, including slapping, pushing and jabbing the animals with sticks.
• Buffaloes sustained bloody injuries during the confrontations, enduring further agony from being dragged by ropes threaded through their nostrils.
• PETA India said buffalo fights violate not only central laws but also core Indian values of compassion and non-violence.
• The organisation underscored the inherent cruelty of such spectacles and called for their prohibition to safeguard both animal welfare and human rights advancements.

Animal rights and safety:

• None of the guarantees containedin Part III of the Constitution, which deals with fundamental rights, are explicitly conferred on animals.
• Therefore, when efforts to legislate on animal welfare were first made, it came from a more elementary ethical preceptthat it was morally wrong to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering on animals.
• It was with this vision in mind that Parliament enacted the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (PCA Act), in 1960.