The Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the West Bengal government to rename the lion “Akbar” and lioness “Sita”, whose names caused a controversy after both animals were placed in the same enclosure at the Bengal Safari Park in Siliguri.

The court was hearing a petition by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to change the name of the lioness who was recently transferred to West Bengal from Tripura, reported Live Law.

The single-judge bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya, in an oral direction, asked the state to avoid controversy and consider renaming the animals, 

“Will you name a lion after a Hindu deity, a Muslim prophet or Christian god or freedom fighter or nobel laureate? Generally anyone who is revered or respected by the people of our country?” Justice Bhattacharyya asked.

The Additional Advocate General (AAG), representing West Bengal, told the court that the lions were named in Tripura and the state itself was already considering renaming the lions.

The court also questioned the reasoning behind naming an animal after “a god, mythological hero, freedom fighter, or Nobel laureate” and asked why the state did not challenge the names given by Tripura.

“You are a welfare state and it is a secular state. Why should you draw controversy by naming a lion after Sita and Akbar? This controversy should have been avoided. Not only Sita, but I also don’t support the naming of a lion Akbar. He was a very efficient and noble Mughal emperor. Very successful and secular Mughal emperor. If it is already named, the state authority should shun it and avoid it,” Justice Bhattacharyya said.

During the exchange, Justice Bhattacharyya also asked the AAG whether he had any pets and if they were named after “national heroes”.

The court has directed the petition by Vishwa Hindu Parishad to be reclassified as a public interest litigation (PIL) and redirected it to a regular bench that can hears PILs.

Sent to Russia on the pretext of getting good salaries as security guards, at least 10 young men from various parts of India are now being forced to risk their lives and fight a war for a country they owe no allegiance to. Not only were the men duped in terms of the job that they were signing up for, but the agent who sent them to Russia also managed to extract Rs 3 lakh from each of them.

The men – who are believed to be fighting Ukraine as part of the mercenary organisation, Wagner Group – and their families have now appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to help them return to India. A similar appeal has been made by AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi and a Karnataka minister has said the state government will talk to the MEA about getting the men back.

Family members of the youngsters said on Thursday that one of them, Syed Ilyas from Hyderabad, had sent a video from Russia telling his parents that he and several others had been cheated by the agent. In the video, Mr Ilyas said he had not signed up to fight the war and pleaded with his family to be brought back to India. 

The father of one of the young men said at least 10-12 Indians – from Karnataka, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and other states – have been duped this way and one of them, who is from Kashmir, was injured after he suffered a bullet injury to his leg. 

“My son, Abdul Naeem, and three of his friends used to work in Dubai. They got in touch with an agent called Baba who promised them high-paying security jobs in Russia and took Rs 3 lakh each from them. They were brought back to India and then sent to Russia on December 16. They were told to sign an agreement in Russian, but they refused, and relented only when the agent told them it was safe and about their security guard jobs,” Mr Naeem’s father said in Hindi. 

“At least 10-12 young men have been duped this way. My son and all the others want to come back. We have no complaints with the Russian government or their army, we are requesting them to send our sons back. We are also appealing to the Indian government to ensure their safe return,” he said.

The father added that he is in touch with his son, who is now being kept apart from his three friends. “They are being taken in planes to places far away. A man from Kashmir has also suffered a bullet injury to his leg,” he said. 

‘Will Talk To MEA’

Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said, “The district administration has alerted the state government and the MEA. We will talk to the MEA and do our best to bring back the young men. Not only the men from Karnataka, but everyone who has been duped into waging this war.”

On Wednesday, Mr Owaisi said he had written to External Affairs Minister S Jaishnakar and sought his help in getting the young men back to India. The MP has said at least a dozen Indians, including three from Telangana, had been duped by the agent and forced to take part in the war.

Days after the Election Commission awarded the NCP name and ‘clock’ symbol to the Ajit Pawar faction, a new symbol has been allotted to the camp led by the party’s founder Sharad Pawar. The symbol given to the Nationalist Congress Party (Shardchandra Pawar) is called ‘man blowing turha’.

The ‘turha’ is a traditional trumpet and is also known as ‘tutari’. “The Tutari in the form of great valour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had once deafened the emperor of Delhi. It is a great honour for our party to get Tutari (Man Blowing Turha) as our symbol for upcoming elections. Our Tutari is now ready to shake Delhi’s throne under the leadership of Sharadchandra Pawar,” NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) said in a post on X.

The Election Commission’s order in favour of the Ajit Pawar-led faction had been given on February 6 and, on Monday, the Supreme Court had said that the name given to the Sharad Pawar camp would continue till further orders. 

Hearing a petition by the Sharad Pawar camp against the February 6 order, the bench had given the NCP founder liberty to approach the Election Commission for the symbol. It had also directed the poll panel to allot the symbol within a week of the Sharad Pawar group applying for it.

Appearing for the NCP founder, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had pointed out that the name allotted to the Sharad Pawar faction was an interim arrangement made by the Election Commission till the Rajya Sabha elections, which will be held on February 27.

“The budget session of Maharashtra assembly is scheduled to start from February 26 and our group will be without any name or symbol after February 27. The order said that Ajit Pawar side is the real NCP, which we will contest at a later stage. But for the Rajya Sabha elections, Sharad Pawar can use the name as a one-time measure. After February 27, technically I will be nameless, symbol-less and will be bound to obey the whip of Ajit Pawar,” Mr Singhvi had said.

Allotting the symbol to the Sharad Pawar camp on Thursday, the Election Commission wrote, “The Commission has already allotted the name of ‘Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar’ to the group led by Sh. Sharad Pawar (respondent) as per the Commission’s Final Order dated 06.02.2024 in Dispute Case No. 2 of 2023, till further orders by Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter. Further, as per the request received, ‘Man Blowing Turha’ is allotted to the group/party in all the parliamentary constituencies in the State of Maharashtra.

In a huge jolt to his uncle and the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar had split the NCP in July 2023 and taken oath as a deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde-led government. Eight other NCP MLAs had been sworn in with him.