Days after the viral videos of two Kerala medical students in scrubs dancing to Boney M's 'Rasputin' took a communal turn, more people came out in support of the duo. The viral video, which has got a million views so far, also triggered a debate as some raised "concerns" over the name of Naveen Razak, the boy in the video. However, this saw even a larger movement in support of the youngsters with #ResistHate trending on social media.
Speaking with India Today TV, Janaki Omkumar, the girl in the viral video, said that they were not bothered about the remarks. Janaki Omkumar, a 3rd-year MBBS student at Thrissur Government Medical College, said they weren't bothered by the criticism.
Kerala against hate!
— Dr. Jonathan Fernandez (@just1doctorwala) April 11, 2021
Divisive communal hate fueled forces have no place in Kerala#StepAgainstHatred pic.twitter.com/2qjGhDSPx4
"There are n million people who have seen this video and supported this and there must be some 10-12 people who want to give [it] a different colour. My policy is not to even look at that side," Janaki said.
Coming out in support of the two, the Students Federation of India (SFI) unit of Cochin University of Science and Technology (SFI CUSAT) has organised a virtual dance competition to the same song with the hashtag #resisthate.
#StepAgainstHatred
— Doctor Roshan R (@pythoroshan) April 10, 2021
Context - after a fun dance by 2 doctors from Kerala went viral earlier this month, radicals jumped in to target the guy's religion & spout the love jihad theory again (FOR A DANCE, mind you)
Well, the docs r back. And they've got friends too this time.
Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/nxLHQcMvdz
The campaign has so far attracted a good response with over 60 entries already published on its Instagram account. Many other medicos and other associations have also come out in support of the youngsters.
Janaki Omkumar said dance isn't something new to her. "I learned dancing when I was a child. It was a classical form but I have always loved dancing. In college, seniors helped a lot with new dance skills and we also have a dance team here," she said.
That's why it's called "God's Own Country"
— Chetan Krishna (@ckchetanck) April 10, 2021
Well Done Keralaites. #StepAgainstHatred
pic.twitter.com/eZVd62k5Mb
Speaking about the viral video, Janaki is yet to believe that it garnered a hype she did not expect. "We never thought it would go so viral...We usually create such videos and share them on social media. So we just did one after our class one day. We decided to shoot it in scrubs since we were in college. But the video went viral."