Idiocy touches new heights as VHP moves court against naming of lions
The Bengal unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has taken legal action by filing a petition in the Calcutta High Court against the naming of a female Asiatic lion as ‘Sita’ and a male Asiatic lion as ‘Akbar,’ a decision that has sparked controversy.
These wild cats were recently transferred from Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoological Park, located in Sepahjhala, to the North Bengal Wild Animals Park located near Siliguri.
In a statement released by the VHP, it stated: “The VHP Uttar Banga Prant has urgently and deeply approached the Calcutta High Court’s circuit bench in Jalpaiguri, expressing profound anguish over a recent incident that has deeply offended the religious sentiments of the entire Hindu community by naming the lion and lioness as Akbar and Sita.”
In the writ petition filed with the High Court’s circuit bench in Jalpaiguri on Saturday, February 17, the VHP argued that naming an animal after a religious figure is “disrespectful and offensive, violating the religious sentiments of Hindus”. The petition also called for the female lion’s name to be changed.
However, authorities at the North Bengal Wild Animals Park have denied assigning the names, saying they were named such by Sepahjala Zoo.
The seven-year-old Akbar and five-year-old Sita were transferred to the Siliguri zoo from the zoo in Sepahijala as part of an animal exchange program earlier last week.
