The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has filed a bizarre plea against the West Bengal Forest Department in Calcutta High Court. The petition has been filed on the allegations of keeping a lion named ‘Akbar’ and lioness named ‘Sita’ in the same enclosure at Siliguri Safari Park. The VHP claimed that the names were given after their arrival in the park. This led to the outlandish demand of changing lioness name to assuage religious sentiments.
As we all know, ‘Akbar’ is the name of the greatest Mughal Emperor and ‘Sita’ is a major deity in Hindu religion, who is the most important character of Valmiki’s Ramayana. Goddess Sita, a personification of purity and virtue, is the devoted wife of Lord Rama, a principal avatar of Lord Vishnu. The VHP claims that naming the lion and lioness as it stands is an insult for Hindus, as it is an act of a minority community to deceitfully convert girls from Hinduism to Islam.
Based on the allegations, Forest department officials mentioned that Sita was named way before they arrived to Siliguri Safari Park, and they haven’t named them afterwards. Thus, there was no hurt caused to any religious sentiments. As per the reports, the lion and lioness were bought from Sepahijala Zoological Park, which is in Tripura.
Two parties, namely the State Forest Authorities and Bengal Safari Park Director, will fight this case. Furthermore, the VHP has been urged to not name any animals in the Zoological park after Gods and Goddesses of any religion. This matter is slated for further hearing and conclusion on 20th February.
