'Would you name pet dog after any god'; Calcutta HC rebukes Bengal govt on 'Akbar-Sita' controversy

KOLKATA: Calcutta High Court while hearing the controversial petition of VHP said it was a wrong decision to name the lion couple as Akbar and Sita. The court has directed the government to change the name and avoid controversy.

Meanwhile, the court didn't allow the writ petition filed by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The court then directed that the demand should not stand as a writ petition but should be converted into a public interest petition. The court also asked to submit the petition before the regular bench within ten days.

“Already Bengal is copious with issues and controversies. Amidst all this, such a controversy could have been avoided. Can animals be named after Gods, Nobel laureates and freedom fighters like this? Would you name the pet dog in the house after any gods?" The court then asked the government lawyers to reveal the names of their pet dogs. "Will the lion be named after Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna? It is not correct to name the lion as Akbar.” The court remarked.

Meanwhile, the Bengal government informed the High Court that the names Sita and Akbar were given by the Tripura government. The Bengal Forest Department explained that the lions had names even before they arrived at Siliguri Park. Documents related to this have also been produced. The lion couple were brought to Bengal under an animal exchange scheme. The Bengal government later ripped into VHP for not raising any issue with the Tripura government. The petition was filed by the Bengal wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Earlier, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's plea to not keep the male lion named Akbar and the female lion named Sita together in the Siliguri Safari Park in Bengal grabbed national attention with thousands of trolls and memes surfacing across the social media space in no time.

The petition of the VHP Bengal unit came before Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya on last 16th. The lions were recently brought to Bengal from Sepahijala Park in Tripura.