The Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s West Bengal wing has moved the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of Calcutta High Court against the forest department allegedly keeping a lion named Akbar and a lioness named Sita in the same enclosure at Siliguri’s Safari park, reported Live Law on Saturday.
“Akbar” was the name of the third Mughal emperor who reigned from 1556 to 1605 while “Sita” is a Hindu deity from the epic Ramayan.
On February 13, forest officials brought the seven-year-old lion Akbar and five-year-old lioness Sita to Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri from Sepahijala Zoological Park in Tripura, reported The Statesman.
Following this, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad claimed that housing Sita with Akbar would be an insult to the Hindu religion.
“Vishwa Hindu Parishad has with deep anguish observed that a species of cat family has been named after the name of ‘Sita’ the consort of Lord Rama and she is sacred deity to all Hindus across the world,” read the Hindu outfit’s plea, reported Bar and Bench.
Claiming that the act “amounts to blasphemy”, it has sought the name of the lioness to be changed.
The plea was mentioned before a bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya on February 16 and will be heard on February 20.
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