Videos (above and below) of a group of college students dancing in Kerala have become the subject of massive hate and incessant trolling online. The reason? They were Muslims, who had somehow undermined the sanctity of their religion through their “outrageous act”, according to trolls.

Three students from a dental college in Malappuram decided to take to the streets with a performance of the much-loved viral song Jimikki Kammal to raise awareness about World AIDS Day. The flash mob was part of the district health department’s campaign to observe the day on December 1. Pictures and videos from the performance began circulating online, after which the students were strongly criticised for “wearing jeans” and for their “public dance performance” at Kottakkunnu junction.

Advertisement

Hateful comments on the post ranged from calling the women “an insult to Islam” and “people are lucky there was no tsunami in Malappuram” to “dancing of girls in public will unleash immorality in men and it will cause more anarchy in society instead of making public aware of AIDS”.

The moral police did not even spare the women’s parents, who were heavily condemned. Even though many came out in support of the women, it was not enough to drown out the voices of hate, forcing the original video to be taken down.