KOCHI: It was by luck that one of the dance reels on Instagram by the two medicos, Janaki M Omkumar and Naveen K Razak of Thrissur Medical College, went viral last week. They shot to fame by dancing to the tune of Boney M’s eternal track Rasputin in the corridor of their college. However, a communal remark by an advocate on Facebook has sparked some controversy. He remarked on another girl, Nimisha, a Hindu girl from Kerala, who joined ISIS after marrying a Muslim boy. The dancing duo also belongs to different faiths.
The post claims there is “something fishy” about “Janaki and Naveen dancing” and as in the case of Nimisha’s mother, Janaki’s parents also “should be careful”.The Students Federation of India (SFI) unit at Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) announced a dance competition titled ‘Endo Oru Panthiked’ (something is fishy). Dance videos in solo or group, less than a minute long, can be sent via WhatsApp at 75588 32632 and 95448 27377 or after contacting the Instagram handle @sficusat. Dancers can submit their entries till April 14 and there would be rewardsed for the best-liked video and best dance performance, said the organisers. The results will be published on April 16.
“Our protest is against those who divide the society and people based on caste and religion and spread venomous communal comments even on social media. This is a small protest campaign and we hope the secular people of Kerala will stand by us,” said Prajith K Babu, SFI unit secretary at Cusat.Though the organisers had announced Rs 1,500 as prize money in the beginning, the amount is likely to increase as more and more people are offering sponsorship for the competition.
The video of the medicos went viral last week, with many of the users sharing them on Instagram and other social media handles. Janaki and Naveen are part of the 25-member dance team at Thrissur Medical College. Their video was filmed by their friend Musthak Ali. They said that they were planning to do another fun reel soon and would like to dance with the other team members. Though Janaki and Naveen have posted several solo acts and some moves along with Viking members, none of them got such wide appreciation.