(Web Desk) - An Indian court has asked a zoo in West Bengal to rename two lions after a hardline right-wing Hindu organisation claimed that one of the names offended the religious sentiments of Hindus.
The two were named Sita and Akbar and they were living together in an enclosure in the zoo.
In Hindu mythology, Sita is worshipped along with Lord Ram. A Muslim ruler during the Mughal era in India was also named Akbar.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad [VHP] complained that the lioness should not be named after Sita.
A court in West Bengal said that animals should not be named after “Hindu gods, Muslim Prophets, Christian figures, Nobel laureates and freedom fighters”.
“You could have named it Bijli [lightning] or something like that. But why give names such as Akbar and Sita?” Justice Saugata Bhattacharya asked.
The court also questioned the zoo authorities’ wisdom of naming pets, dogs included, after humans. “You could’ve avoided a controversy,” the judge said.
The two lions currently live at the North Bengal Wild Animals Park in Siliguri, West Bengal.
The VHP also opposed the idea of both animals sharing the same park.
“Sita and Akbar cannot be allowed to live together,” VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said.