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Agartala: The government has suspended the official who kept tiger and tigress named Akbar Sita in Tripura zoo. Amid the naming controversy, the government has suspended the state’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife and Ecotourism) Prabin Lal Agarwal. The suspension followed a complaint filed by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in the Calcutta High Court alleging that the names hurt religious sentiments.
Tigers were brought to Tripura from Bengal Safari.
According to reports, on February 12, two tigers were brought to Tripura’s Sepahijala Zoological Park after five years. The tigers were brought from Bengal Safari in Siliguri, North Bengal under an animal exchange programme.
VHP appealed to the High Court.
The VHP had filed a petition before the High Court bench requesting the change of names. The petition said that it hurts the sentiments of Hindu religion. Justice Bhattacharya expressed displeasure over the names chosen for the two animals.
The High Court also reprimanded.
In oral remarks, the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court said that the decision to name the tigress and the lion as ‘Sita’ and ‘Akbar’ should have avoided the controversy. The court questioned whether the tiger could be named after personalities like Swami Vivekananda or Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The bench recommended that the West Bengal Zoo Authority reconsider and change the names of the two animals with justice.
The High Court bench asked sharp questions
Justice Bhattacharya considered whether it is appropriate to name animals after gods, mythological figures, freedom fighters or Nobel laureates. He emphasized that such conflicts should be avoided. He said that who has given this name to create controversy? I was wondering if an animal can be named after a god, mythological hero, freedom fighter or Nobel laureate. Why would you create a controversy by naming the lion and the lioness as Akbar and Sita?
We tell you that Akbar was a great Muslim ruler of the Mughal Empire in India. While according to the Hindu epic Ramayana, Sita is identified as the wife of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. People of Hindu religion call Sita as mother.
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