The highly downloaded game Pokemon Go has landed in deep heat at an Indian High Court, and been accused of disrespecting religious sentiments of millions of vegetarians throughout the country. The Court asked for a permanent ban of the game, as the images of eggs appearing in places of worship was considered blasphemous to Hindus and Jains.
Eggs are considered representations of fertility, birth, and commencement of life. Egg shaped objects are in Hinduism seen as the image of God, believing the egg not only to have divinity but the whole map of the universe. As a result, several vegetarians refuse to eat white eggs, as they believe that consumption would cause harm of a life.
The Court has demanded the creators of Pokeman Go to respond to the above charges, which has received substantial ridicule on social media, with the topic trending on twitter in India. Several nationals headed to social media, calling the court order “frivolous”. The former Indian minister Shashi Tharoor tweeted that it “would be funny if such frivolous cases didn’t clog our judicial system”. It’s still uncertain if the makers, Niantic will obey these orders considering that the game had not been officially released in India during time of the allegations.
Those in India can access the game by signing into an iTunes account of country where the game has been released. They can also use workarounds and other unofficial methods available via the internet. Many reports claim that several Pokestops and areas to ‘gather supplies’ are located in areas of worship. Further allegations include infringement of privacy, and a possible threat of life to players as even more of a reason to ban the game.
