India boasts an enormous vegetarian population, a fact that has somehow come in conflict with Pokémon Go, not yet released there. Gujarat local Alay Dave is claiming in court that the app offends his, and other Indians’, religious sensibilities—in this case, vegetarianism. The issue boils down to one thing: eggs.
“Those who succeed are rewarded with eggs,” Dave’s lawyer told the high court of Gujarat State. Much of India’s Hindu, Buddhist and Jain populations are vegetarian in religious observance of nonviolence. Eggs are not allowed in places of worship, which, in India, are often Poké Stops. Players who have gained access to the app found that temples are Pokémon Go hot spots.
“Offering eggs to people in temples, even in the virtual world, is highly objectionable and amounts to blasphemy,” the lawyer said.
The BBC reports that Indian figures are criticizing Dave’s claims, calling them “frivolous.” The high court of Gujarat State has requested Niantic’s response.