The biggest gender disparity in the country in recent memory was put in place by the Narendra Modi government today when it facilitated the lifting of a four-year ban on jallikattu, the controversial Tamil sport of bull-taming.

The BJP is hoping to gain politically from what appears to be a legally fragile decision in poll-bound Tamil Nadu, where the sport is popular and whose chief minister Jayalalithaa was quick to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "prompt" action. But the party was struggling to shrug off charges of what amounts to "bovine apartheid".

The Centre has gone out of its way to unleash the thunder of the hooves in spite of outrage among animal rights activists and an order by the Supreme Court endorsing the ban imposed in 2011 on the ground of cruelty to animals.

The government's alacrity also stands out against the Prime Minister's reluctance till now to unequivocally and publicly speak on the lynching of a man on the outskirts of Delhi on the trumped-up charge of consuming cow meat.

If the cow is revered by a large section of Hindus, the bull is considered the vehicle of Lord Shiva.

The Union environment and forests ministry issued a notification lifting the ban and incorporating certain "safeguards" to prevent cruelty to the bulls.

The bull should be certified fit to participate in the sport and should be tamed within a distance of 15 metres after leaving the enclosure, the notification says. Performance-enhancing drugs are banned.

Nearly 30 jallikattu events are held in about half-a-dozen districts involving 750 bulls and over 2,000 contestants. The challenge is to pin down the bull and untie a towel tied around its neck.

Animal rights activists are preparing to challenge the lifting of the ban in court. Rights groups say that during jallikattu, bulls are deliberately disoriented through substances like alcohol and are stabbed, jabbed and dragged.

Prakash Javadekar, minister of state for environment, forests and climate change, termed the sport part of the "cultural and historical practices of the communities" and said it had been allowed with "restrictions" to ensure there is no cruelty to the animals.

Javadekar later told The Telegraph : "The conditionalities and procedures have been clearly laid down in our guidelines, so we have ensured there are checks and balances. The irony is that there are crores of farmers who bring up bulls with love and care but they are blamed for not upholding animal rights. On the other hand, you have individuals who may not have gone anywhere close to a bull but they wax eloquent on animal rights on such occasions."

The Modi government has a crusader for animal rights in women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi. Javadekar said Maneka had not spoken to him till this evening after the order was issued today.

Maneka had written to Javadekar against lifting the ban. Today, the People For Animals, an organisation led by Maneka, condemned the lifting of the ban, saying that it went against the ideology of the BJP-led government, which believes in saving cows.

"It is not only against the ideology of the government which has always protested against cow slaughtering, it also against the Indian culture because Indian culture does not support violence and cruelty to animals. It stands for much better things," PFA member Gauri Maulekhi said. "We are shocked as we do not expect this from the government."

Union minister PonRadhakrishnan was quick to hail Modi for the decision ahead of the Pongal harvest festival next week and urged the sportsmen to put up banners of the Prime Minister at every venue.

"It (the lifting of the ban) is proof that the NDA government will not let down the Tamil people," said the BJP leader, the only Union minister from the state who had taken it upon himself to try and end the bar, viewing it as a prestige issue.

Jayalalithaa, who too had sought the relaxation, thanked Modi. "I am very grateful to you for your prompt response, which has enabled the conduct of jallikattu," she said in a letter amid celebrations by enthusiasts.

In case today's notification is stayed, the BJP is certain to claim that it had honoured public sentiments but the court intervened. All parties in the state wanted to be seen supporting the sport with an eye on the votes of the Thevars. Most jallikattu enthusiasts hail from this influential intermediate caste.

Animal rights activists today claimed the executive order to allow jallikattu, overturning the Supreme Court order, was illegal and unconstitutional.

The Animal Welfare Board of India and the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), India, have over the years independently documented how bulls as well as people are severely hurt or killed during jallikattu.

The Supreme Court had specifically instructed in its ruling that the government should not bring back jallikattu without taking into account the views of the Animal Welfare Board of India. "We know the executive order issued by the environment ministry does not have the support of the Animal Welfare Board of India," said Nikunj Sharma, PETA, India spokesperson.

Legal note

In an advisory to the Centre in December 2014, attorney-general MukulRohatgi had observed that an order to allow jallikattu through safeguards or regulation by the Animal Welfare Board of India would be a "U-turn" from a notification in 2011 that imposed restrictions on the exhibition and training of certain animals, including bulls.

"To put it bluntly, the government will be seen backtracking from the view expressed in the notification, and the (Supreme Court) judgment (of 2014) further itself gives a finding that bulls are not naturally fit either to run races or to take part in such events," Rohatgi's note had said.