– Shabana Javed
Kolkata, Feb. 19: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has filed a petition against the Forest Department in the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court against naming the lion ‘Akbar’ and the lioness ‘Sita’ being kept in Siliguri Safari Park.
VHP activists Anup Kumar Mondol and Lakshman Kumar Agarwal of its north Bengal unit filed the petition which is set to be heard on February 20 by a single bench of the court. The petitioner is seeking a name change for the lioness, stating that the current name may hurt religious sentiments.
The Forest Department will reportedly get the lions named from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. That’s why the department has not yet officially said whether or not their names will remain Akbar and Sita.
VHP activist LK Agarwal said, “It has hurt the religious sentiments of numerous people. The lioness and a lion named Akbar were brought to the facility in Salugara, Siliguri from Sepahijala Zoological Park in Bishalgarh, Tripura on Feb 13.” The lion is 7 years old and the lioness 6 years.
VHP’s local unit chief Dulal Chandra Ray claimed that an attempt was being made to attack Hinduism by naming the lions Akbar and Sita.
VHP’s lawyer Subhankar Dutta said that in the government document, the lions have been described as male and female, but in bringing them to the safari park, they are being given the names Akbar and Sita, which has been demanded to be changed. However, Bengal Safari Park officials denied the allegation that they had named the lions, saying that they had already been named before they arrived.
