Lioness, named after the Hindu deity Sita, and lion, named Akbar after the 16th century Mughal ruler.
A court ordered a zoo in West Bengal, India, to change the names of an “interfaith” pair of lions following objections from a hardline Hindu group, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), claiming the names were offensive to their religious feelings. , bbc reported.
The lioness, initially named after the Hindu deity Sita, and the lion, named Akbar after the 16th century Mughal ruler Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, sparked a legal dispute over alleged blasphemy.
The VHP, associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), maintained that naming the lioness after a goddess was blasphemous and protested against keeping the lions in the same wildlife park.
The court ruling stated that animals should not be named after figures of Hindu gods, Muslim prophets, revered Christian personalities, Nobel laureates or freedom fighters.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharya questioned the choice of names and suggested alternatives like “Bijli” (lightning) to avoid controversy. The court also reflected on the appropriateness of naming pets, including dogs, after people.
The VHP, affirming the sacred significance of Sita in Hindu beliefs, considered the act of naming her as blasphemy and an attack on the religious sentiments of Hindus across the world.
The organization accused authorities in West Bengal, governed by an opposition party, of intentional actions and threatened protests unless the names and locations of the lions were changed.
VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal stressed that Sita and Akbar should not coexist and called for the relocation of the big cats and a name change.
The court's decision to intervene reflects the intersection of cultural and religious sensitivities around animal naming in the Indian context.
