Thus, after seven years, the RSS has achieved its objective: religion is centre-stage in our political and social discussions. And religious fervour of the worst sort is now everywhere: the violent, divisive, destructive sort. And because India is a Hindu majority nation and the RSS is a Hindu supremacist ideology, rank majoritarianism once again raises its ugly head and dominates.

The momentum began soon after the victory of the BJP at the Centre in 2014 with a series of mob lynching of Muslims ostensibly in the name of the cow. Once that behaviour was normalised, once the murderers were lauded and garlanded and their actions justified, the groundwork was laid.

Tucked away in between was a far less physically violent act – to redesignate Christmas as “Good Governance Day”. Looking back, perhaps that was a test, a small check to gauge the general response. It did not work so well then, so the idea was shelved. But the seed had been planted.

Attacks on Muslims though have run parallel to increasing Hindu involvement in the government or more correctly, increasing government involvement in Hindu matters.

The religion-secularism maze is not new to India and governance. British colonialism played it to the hilt, setting various fault lines into motion to exploit to their profit and benefit. Ever since, we’ve struggled to find just that particular Indian definition of secularism. But in all our mistakes and mis-steps never have we seen such a blatant, persistent anti-minority majoritarian campaign from a government in power.

The case related to the police registering an FIR against a CPI-ML activist who uploaded vacation pictures with the caption ‘Trip to Sirumalai for shooting practice’, which the police interpreted as preparations to wage war against the State. Justice Swaminathan quashed the FIR against the 62-year-old accused while underscoring that the case was ‘absurd and an abuse of legal process’.

While noting that ‘being funny’ and ‘poking fun at another’ is different, the court stated that “Laugh at what?” is a serious question. The court also explained as to why the question becomes pertinent in the backdrop of regional diversity in India.

“…This is because we have holy cows grazing all over from Varanasi to Vadipatty (the place where the police registered the FIR). One dare not poke fun at them. There is however no single catalogue of holy cows. It varies from person to person and from region to region. A real cow, even if terribly underfed and emaciated, shall be holy in Yogi’s terrain. In West Bengal, Tagore is such an iconic figure that Khushwant Singh learnt the lesson at some cost. Coming to my own Tamil Desh, the all-time iconoclast “Periyar” Shri. E.V. Ramasamy is a super-holy cow. In today’s Kerala, Marx and Lenin are beyond the bounds of criticism or satire. Chhatrapati Shivaji and Veer Savarkar enjoy a similar immunity in Maharashtra. But all over India, there is one ultimate holy cow and that is ‘national security’,” it read.

The judge added: ‘Paper warriors are also entitled to fantasise that they are Swadeshi Che Gueveras….Revolutionaries, whether real or phoney, are not usually credited with any sense of humour (or at least this is the stereotype). For a change, the petitioner tried to be funny. Perhaps it was his maiden attempt at humour.’

Several Amazon workers at two of its facilities in the US staged a pre-Christmas walkout, which is the busiest time of the year, asking for better treatment and higher wages.

Before walking out on Wednesday morning (US time), the workers handed over a petition listing their demands to the management, but didn’t receive a response, reports TechCrunch.

“We have been passed over for raises. We are being overworked, even when there are sufficient people to work here,” a worker at the DLN2 facility in Cicero, Chicago area, said on a livestream.

“We have not received the bonuses we were promised. There are people here who were hired as permanent workers, and then they took their badges away and made them temporary workers. They are staffing this place unsafely, making people work too fast, even though we don’t have to,” the Amazon worker lamented.

A pair of Quidditch leagues announced on Wednesday that they will be changing the name of the ‘real-life’ version of the sport in order to ‘distance’ themselves from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling for her statements about the transgender community.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, the U.S. Quidditch (USQ) and Major League Quidditch (MLQ) organizations announced they will be changing the name of the sport following the controversy.

Both leagues are also creating a survey to vote on a name change.  

‘The leagues are hoping a name change can help them continue to distance themselves from the works of J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter book series, who has increasingly come under scrutiny for her anti-trans positions in recent years,’ the statement read.

The ‘fictional’ sport, featured in Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise, had inspired fans of the books and films to create their own version and organize leagues, minus the flying broomsticks.

Rowling, 56, initially came under fire in June 2020 after she had tweeted about biological sex, which led to backlash from the trans community. That and the subsequent transphobia row has since left her out of the upcoming 20th anniversary Harry Potter special that will air on HBO Max.

Two Quidditch leagues are changing the name of the sport following Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted about biological sex, leading to backlash from the trans community

Players from MLQ are seen playing a real-life version of the sport that normally requires the use of broomsticks

The leagues are also changing the name as it is trademarked by the Warner Brothers Studio who produces the Harry Potter film franchise

The fantasy sport was made famous after it was created by Rowling in the book series. The sport has been described as similar to soccer or hockey but with the use of flying broomsticks

The change also comes after the fact that the name of the sport has been trademarked by Warner Brothers Studios, which produces the Harry Potter franchise, and ‘has limited the sport’s expansion, including but not limited to sponsorship and broadcast opportunities.’

‘Our sport has developed a reputation as one of the most progressive sports in the world on gender equality and inclusivity, in part thanks to its gender maximum rule, which stipulates that a team may not have more than four players of the same gender on the field at a time,’ the statement continued. 

‘Both organizations feel it is imperative to live up to this reputation in all aspects of their operations and believe this move is a step in that direction.’ 

Both leagues made a joint statement announcing the name change on Wednesday

The fantasy sport had been adapted for real-life play in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont by Xander Marshall and Alex Benepe.

Benepe, who currently works as the Director of Leagues for Sky Zone Sports, supported the decision for the name change.

‘I’m thrilled that USQ and MLQ are moving in this direction,’ Benepe said in the statement.

‘Big changes like this don’t come without risk, but I’ve been a strong advocate for making this move for a long time.

‘The sport needs its own space without limits on its growth potential and changing the name is crucial to achieving that.’

A series of tweets posted by Rowling which had featured her views on transgender people

Officials from both leagues also released their own comments on the name change.

‘For the last year or so, both leagues have been quietly collecting research to prepare for the move and been in extensive discussions with each other and trademark lawyers regarding how we can work together to make the name change as seamless as possible,’ MLQ Commissioner Amanda Dallas said. 

‘I believe quidditch is at a turning point,” USQ Executive Director Mary Kimball also commented. 

‘We can continue the status quo and stay relatively small, or we can make big moves and really propel this sport forward into its next phase. 

‘Renaming the sport opens up so many more revenue opportunities for both organizations, which is crucial to expansion.’

• So much for gratitude: The Harry Potter stars and Hollywood… JK Rowling’s ex-husband is pictured for first time since she…

MLQ and USQ also added that the survey process should take until the end of January in which they will decide the names.

The leagues will keep their original acronyms with the name of the new sport still donning the original ‘Q.’ 

Both companies will also undergo branding developments with MLQ changing the brand’s style and website.

‘For a decade, I’ve watched USQ grow,’ USQ PR Marketing Manager Fabiana Echeverria said. ‘The new name and branding will bring US Quidditch into its next phase while advancing our goal of growing a sport that is supportive and inclusive of everyone.

‘This is an exciting time for the sport and I can’t wait to see where it takes us!’

 The first official poster for the Harry Potter reunion special has been released, featuring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint

The three protagonists are seen sitting in the set of the Gryffindor common room after they first appeared in Harry Potter The Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001 

Radcliffe had played the title character of Harry Potter with Grint and Watson playing his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger 

The controversy surrounding Rowling began in June 2020 when she took to Twitter to criticize an opinion piece that used the term ‘people who menstruate’ instead of women.

‘I’m sure there used to be a word for these people,’ she tweeted at the time. ‘Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’

She then continued with a thread discussing biological sex.

‘If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction,’ she claimed. ‘If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased.

‘I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives.’

Rowling later clarified that she respects ‘every trans person’s rights to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them,’ and went on to say she would march ‘if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans.

‘At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female,’ Rowling said, The Associated Press reported at the time. 

‘I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.’

Then, in September 2020, she faced renewed calls of transphobia after it was revealed the the villain in her latest book, Troubled Blood – written under Rowling’s pseudonym Robert Galbraith – is a male serial killer who dresses as a woman to slay his victims. 

An early review of the 900-page book by The Daily Telegraph – in which the critic states the book’s ‘moral seems to be: never trust a man in a dress’ – sparked immediate backlash online.  

Fans of the franchise have since slammed Rowling for her comments as well as actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne have since spoken out.  

In March, Grint, who plays Ron Weasley in the beloved film series admitted that he felt he needed to stand up for transgender people following Rowling’s remarks.  

He said that  while he was ‘not an authority’ on the debate, he felt he had a responsibility to speak out in support of the trans community as ‘silence is louder’.

In an interview with Esquire, he said: ‘I am hugely grateful [for] everything that she’s done. I think that she’s extremely talented, and I mean, clearly, her works are genius.’

‘But yeah, I think also you can have huge respect for someone and still disagree with things like that…

‘Sometimes silence is even louder. I felt like I had to because I think it was important to. I mean, I don’t want to talk about all that… Generally, I’m not an authority on the subject. 

‘Just out of kindness, and just respecting people. I think it’s a valuable group that I think needs standing up for.’ 

Rowling has been left out of promotional materials for the upcoming Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts which is set to premiere on HBO Max on January 1, 2022.   

The author however will be featured in archival footage during the special.