AHMEDABAD: Pokemon Go is blasphemous and
should be banned, an Indian court was told Wednesday, because it rewards
religious vegetarians with eggs.
Lawyer Nachiket Dave
argued that the game offended the religious sensibilities of Hindus and
Jains ─ some of whom do not eat meat or other animal products ─ by
giving players virtual eggs, including in places of worship.
"Those
who succeed are rewarded with eggs. Offering eggs to people in temples,
even in the virtual world, is highly objectionable and amounts to
blasphemy," Dave told AFP after the brief hearing at the court in the
western Indian state of Gujarat.
Many Hindus are
vegetarian, among them Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while
members of the Jain faith usually follow a very strict vegan diet.
Dave,
who is acting on behalf of a private individual named Alay Dave, said
the court would now ask the Gujarat and Indian governments as well as
the San Francisco-based makers of Pokemon to respond to the claims.
The
global Pokemon Go craze has prompted a slew of complaints, with
religious sites arguing that it is disrespectful to play there and some
countries imposing a complete ban.
The game was recently updated to remove the Hiroshima and Berlin Holocaust memorials as Pokemon landmarks.
A
Russian blogger has been charged with offending religious believers and
inciting hatred after filming himself playing Pokemon Go in a church.
0 comments:
Post a Comment