Rayan Antony

A Hindu nationalist group has sued an Indian zoo for naming two of its lions after a Muslim ruler and a Hindu goddess. The court has requested that the names of the lions be changed.

The North Bengal Wild Animals Park in Siliguri district, West Bengal, is home to these majestic lions. The naming dilemma started when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a right-wing Hindu organization, raised an issue and filed a court petition on 16th Friday to stop the zoo administration from keeping the lions named after “Sita,” the revered Hindu goddess, who is the consort of Lord Rama, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism, and the lion named after “Akbar,” the 16th-century Mughal empire over most of the Indian subcontinent.

Initially, the lions arrived from Sepahijala Zoological Park in the state of Tripura, governed by the BJP, in West Bengal as part of an exchange program. The VHP claims that the lion was formerly known as Ram, a Hindu god and Sita’s spouse. Akbar was the new name given to it when it was moved to West Bengal.

The VHP argued that naming the lioness after a goddess was blasphemous and an assault on the community’s religious beliefs. They also kept their demand in court that the lions be renamed or relocated. The VHP, which is linked to a Hindu nationalist group called the Bhartiya Janatha Party (BJP), currently ruling the country, accused the authorities of the government of West Bengal state, a regional Trinamool Congress party that is opposed to the BJP. The VHP spokesperson, Vinod Bansal, said, “Sita and Akbar cannot be allowed to live together.”

A case has been filed in the Calcutta High Court’s circuit bench in Jalpaiguri on February 16 by the VHP, challenging the West Bengal Forest Department under the naming controversy.  The Tripura Zoo authorities named two lions in 2016 and 2018 before they transferred them to the Bengal Safari Park. The West Bengal government responded in court to the controversy. “The issue over their names only cropped up once the lions arrived in West Bengal,” says Additional Advocate General (AAG) Debjyoti Choudry.

Justice Saugata Bhattacharya questioned the wisdom of naming animals after religious figures, Nobel laureates, and freedom fighters. “You could have named it Bijli (lighting) or something like that. But why give names such as Akbar and Sita? ” The judge questioned the authorities. Advocate Debjyoti Choudry told the court that the lions would be given new names and further requested that the court dismiss the petition of the VHP. Considering the response, the court ordered the plea of the Hindu group to be reclassified as a public interest litigation (PIL) and presented it to the bench that hears PILs.   

Meanwhile, the controversy escalated further when the Tripura government suspended a senior forest department officer. The principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife and ecotourism), Prabin Lal Agarwal, faced disciplinary action following the court’s ruling. “What is dangerous in this is that this will be setting a precedent in a court of law,” says, Moumita Sen, an associate professor of culture studies at the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society. Memes and AI art have played a major role in India, especially on X and Instagram, to comment on and make fun of the issue.

While animal lovers and conservationists express their opinions, the lions, formerly Akbar and Sita, await their new identities. The controversy indicates a reminder that even in the animal kingdom, names carry weight and arouse strong emotions.

Photo 1: (Representative photo) © Provided by India Today

Photo 2: https://twitter.com/2witter_dot_com/status/1759267304607531330/photo/1