A recent video of two medical students from Thrissur Medical College dancing to Boney M’s classic ‘Rasputin’ went viral and brought cheer to many. The dancers in the video – Naveen and Janaki – earned many a praise online for their skills. An advocate named Krishna Raj, a BJP sympathiser with a considerable following on social media, however, gave an unnecessary communal tone to the incident in a social media post on Thursday, where he ‘advised’ Janaki’s parents to be ‘careful’ as Naveen is Muslim.
“Janaki and Naveen. The dance by two medical students in Thrissur Medical College is going viral. Janaki M Omkumar and Naveen K Razak are the two students. I smell something wrong here. Janaki’s parents should be careful. And if they are careful, they won’t have to be sorry later, as Nimisha’s mother has proven. Let’s pray for Janaki’s father Omkumar and his wife,” Krishna Raj’s post read.
Nimisha alias Fathima was one of the women who had converted to Islam and left Kerala between 2016 and 2018 to join the terror outfit Islamic State in Afghanistan. Bindu Sampath, Nimisha’s mother, had filed a writ petition with the Kerala High Court in 2018 asking for the Union government to rescue Nimisha and her then 10-month-old baby from the IS and bring her back to India. Nimisha later surrendered with her child to Afghanistan authorities.
It is to be noted that though Krishna Raj did have supporters, his post overwhelmingly received flak, including from the IMA-Medical Students Network, Kerala. Scores of people took to social media to condemn Krishna Raj and offered their support to the duo.
Naveen also responded to the post, and told Asianet that he and Janaki are not bothered by the communal remarks. "We are the new generation. We are not bothered by this," he said. Janaki added that she and her family thought the comments are not even worth reacting to. Naveen pointed out that while a few were making adverse comments and making it communal, a majority of Keralites were supportive and he was happy about that.
The IMA-Medical Students Network, Kerala, meanwhile, put up a Facebook post supporting the duo too. It said, “The communal remarks and posts that came out around the video are disgusting and concerned.” The post added that “the mentality of those who set religious standards for people to unite and be united is absolutely condemnable. Such narratives should be strongly opposed.”
“Medical college campuses are a place where all the religious, caste, gender differences created by man become completely irrelevant. It reminds us that we are people who behave, interact, think and speak. Solidarity with both and those who are to come,” IMA-Medical Students Network, Kerala, added.