When three Muslim girls from Malappuram did a flash mob, it unleashed a flurry of abuse on social media, with many fundamentalists dubbing it the 'end of the world'. The issue snowballed, with even the Women's Commission stepping in.
So what is one of the best ways to reply to such trolls? This is how: To show the trolls that personal freedoms cannot be curbed, the Students Federation of India (SFI) conducted flash mobs across Kerala. The flash mobs were a mark of protest against the vitriolic trolling faced by the three Muslim girls who participated in a flash mob on 1 December.
The flash mobs were conducted in all district centers. In Thiruvananthapuram, a flash mob was organised at the University College.
In Malappuram, a flash mob was conducted at the same location where the three girls had danced.
The mobs saw Muslim girls wearing head scarves and dancing along with other students.
The events attracted thousands of onlookers. The flash mobs were conducted under the leadership of the district committees of SFI.
Muslim Girls Trolled
The video of three Muslim girls from Malappuram with their heads covered in scarves, dancing to the popular song Jimikki Kammal at a public place, went viral for all the wrong reasons.
The girls were staging a flash mob as part of the district health department's campaign to commemorate World AIDS Day on 1 December.
Many comments surfaced on social media from the irked religious fundamentalists that condemned the girls and their families, while others lamented that such people were a “curse to the religion”.
Days after the video went viral and garnered media attention a lot of people took to social media in support of the girls.
Shamna Kolakkodan, an activist and a street theatre artiste back in college, took to Facebook to share an incident that happened two years ago. Shamna recalled the lewd comments that were passed by the crowd during a street play, with many hitting out at them for their “loose lifestyle”, when she had staged a street play on friendship between a boy and a girl.
RJ Sooraj took to social media and put out a video of him congratulating the three Malayali girls. Much to people’s disappointment, the video was deleted as the outbursts against him and the radio station surfaced. Instead, Sooraj put out an apology video asking people to stop the hate campaign against him.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)