Kerala govt joins the 'Rasputin' challenge; gives it a vaccination twist amid COVID surge

Joining in the 'Rasputin challenge', the Kerala government has given it a 'vaccine' twist on Sunday, urging citizens to get inoculated at the nearest centre. The video shared by Kerala police, shows India's twin COVID vaccines - Covaxin and Covishield dancing to the popular sound-track "Raspuutin'. The 'Rasputin Challenge' which has gone viral was started by two medical students from Thrissur Medical College last week, when they impressed several with their dance moves to popular soundtrack Rasputin by Boney M.

Kerala govt joins the 'Rasputin Challenge'

What is the Rasputin Challenge? 

Last week, two Kerala medical students - Janaki M Omkumar from Thiruvananthapuram and Naveen K Razak from Waynad, third and fourth-year MBBS students respectively, took the internet by storm with their dance performance in the college’s corridor. Attired in their scrubs the two perform the uplifting dance amid the rising COVID-19 crisis to cheer people up in bleak times. The video was inspired by the dancer and choreographer Vanesa Seco’s performance on the same number, which went viral on Instagram. 

While the internet welcomed the “Stylish dancing medicos”, some netizens gave the video a communal twist advising Janaki's parents to 'protect her from Razak' - alleging 'Love Jihad'. Love Jihad is a term referring to an alleged campaign by Muslim men to convert Hindu girls under the pretext of love. Several BJP states like - UP, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat have passed a law making 'Love Jihad' a criminal offence. The saffron party which is looking to make inroads into Kerala has promised to enact a similar law if voted to power.

Slamming the 'Love Jihad' twist given to an innocuous dancing video, several other medical students came out in solidarity with Janaki and Naveen, releasing their own dancing videos. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor lauded the Kerala youth, sharing several such videos. He tweeted, "These kids deserve applause and encouragement, instead of the Hindutva venom being spewed at them because of their different religions. They ooze both talent & comradeship, the best of Young India."

Currently, India is under the second wave of Coronavirus spread reporting over one lakh new cases daily. With 11,08,087 active cases and 1,20,81,443 recovered cases, India has seen 1,69,275 deaths till date. India has also administered over 10,15,95,147 vaccine doses till date with PM Modi urging 'Each one, vaccinate one'.