The Calcutta High Court on Thursday urged the State to consider renaming the lioness named ‘Sita,’ a revered goddess among Hindus, and the lion named Akbar to avoid ‘controversy’. This comes after the Vishwa Hindu Parishad moved the circuit bench of the Kolkata HC, expressing concern that one of the two lions brought to the state from Tripura was named ‘Sita’ and Akbar.’
One of the lions is named ‘Akbar,’ a seven-year-old, and the other ‘Sita,’ who is six. The Hindutva group is protesting the pairing of Akbar with Sita, citing the association of Akbar with a Mughal emperor and Sita as a Hindu deity from the epic Ramayan.
Social media was flooded with Islamophobic posts by Hindutva groups.
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the reclassification of a plea by the Hindutva militant group Vishwa Hindu Parishad as a public interest litigation. It has been instructed to be placed before the regular bench with jurisdiction over PILs.
“Who has given this name? Causing controversy? I was thinking whether any animal can be given a name after a god, mythological hero, freedom fighter, or Nobel laureate. You are a welfare state and it is a secular state. Why should you draw controversy by naming a lion after Sita and Akbar? This controversy should have been avoided. Not only Sita, but I also don’t support the naming of a lion Akbar. He was a very efficient and noble Mughal emperor. Very successful and secular Mughal emperor. If it is already named, the state authority should shun it and avoid it. West Bengal should have challenged the names given,” Justice Bhattacharya orally expressed.
