VHP moves HC against housing lions named Akbar, Sita together in WB park

The VHP has challenged the West Bengal forest department's move to keep a lion named 'Akbar' alongside a lioness named 'Sita' in the same enclosure at Siliguri's Safari Park.  

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has moved the Calcutta High Court challenging the West Bengal forest department's move to allegedly keep a lion named 'Akbar' alongside a lioness named 'Sita' in the same enclosure at Siliguri's Safari Park, LiveLaw reported.

The Bengal wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad approached the Calcutta High Court's circuit bench in Jalpaiguri on February 16. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, February 20. The director of Bengal's Safari Park and the state's forest department officials have been added as parties to the lawsuit.

The forest department responded to the controversy by stating that the lions were moved from the Sepahijala Zoological Park in Tripura and that their names were not changed when they arrived to the Safari Park on February 13.

The right-wing group finds it offensive because Sita is a figure in Valmiki's "Ramayan" and is considered a Hindu goddess, and that Akbar was a Mughal emperor.

VHP has argued, according to LiveLaw, that the lions' names were given by the state's forest department and that naming "Sita" beside "Akbar" was considered offensive to Hindus. The outfit has insisted that the lioness' name be changed.