IN a bizarre twist of faith and fur, the Indian right-wing Hindu nationalist group, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has petitioned a Calcutta court over, of all things, the names of two lions residing in a West Bengal zoo. The pair in question, a lion named Akbar and a lioness named Sita, have unwittingly become the protagonists in a tale that could only be concocted in present-day India. The VHP`s contention: the pairing of lions with these names is `irrational`, `illogical`, and `tantamount to blasphemy`. And while their request to respect their deities` names is perfectly reasonable, the justification that was given by a VHP leader is absurd: `Sita cannot stay with the Mughal emperor Akbar.` This isn`t the first time such silliness has reared its head. Take, for instance, the multiple times pigeons have been `arrested` and probed after flying over from Pakistan or China into India, accused of espionage. Most recently, a `spy` pigeon, said to be from China, was detained for eight months while, presumably, investigators combed through its feathers in search of something incriminating.

The pattern is unmistakable: a penchant for seeing slights where none exist, and a readiness to leap into the fray, legal briefs at the ready, over perceived insults to religion or threats to national security. While it is easy to dismiss the VHP`s legal battle as another quixotic quest for religious purity, it is emblematic of a broader struggle over identity, history, and the very soul of India. It brings to mind a 1977 Bollywood film, called Amar Akbar Anthony, about three brothers separated in childhood and raised in different faiths. Amar grew up a Hindu; Akbar, a Muslim; and Anthony, a Christian. They united as adults, and their adventures together were a powerful allegory in Indian pluralism. It is likely that if that film were to be made today, a right-wing group would challenge it in court. And that is a tragedy for modern India.