Indian Hindu group goes to court over lioness named after Hindu deity

19/2/2024 19:19

        A Hindu group has gone to court in India over the naming of a lioness in a zoo after the Hindu deity Sita, calling it blasphemous and an assault on the community's religious beliefs.
        
        The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, wants the court to order the name to be changed.
        
        It has also objected to a plan to keep the five-year-old lioness in the same wildlife park as a lion called Akbar - the name of a 16th century Moghul ruler - as part of an exchange programme among Indian zoos.
        
        The two cats are currently housed in the North Bengal Wildlife Animals Park.
        
        The VHP, which is linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party, says the beasts were given their names by the government of West Bengal state, which is run by an opposition regional party.