Malayalam actress and fashion designer Poornima Indrajith and award-winning music composer Shaan Rahman, who have been at the forefront of Kerala flood rescue efforts, on Monday slammed haters who were spreading bigotry and hate in the wake of mass destruction.
While the majority of civilians and officials have stepped up to help the rain-ravaged Kerala to return to normalcy, there is a section of people on social media who displayed bigotry by claiming that the South Indian state had invited the floods due to their beef-eating habits.
Another hate-spewing comment was that an Indian deity was showing its fury on the state, when a section of its residents demanded that women be allowed in the temple that housed the idol.
“At a time when humans are getting together and fighting for survival together, how can there be such hate against us? When people make such comments, I find it tough to accept them … There is no point in politicising a calamity,” said Rahman in an interview with Gulf News over the phone.
In the last four days, the composer behind the global hit Jimmiki Kammal has been working actively to collect relief materials for the evacuees by transforming Chillax (a go-carting resto-lounge in Kochi) into a massive collection point. He would never dream of bringing religion in the face of natural disaster, claims the award-winning composer who has worked on films including Thattathin Marayathu, Thira and Om Shanti Oshana.
“I would never ever dream of solely helping people based on their community because my parents have never raised me like that. My best friends are Vineeth Sreenivasan [actor-singer] and Noble Thomas – a Hindu and a Christian … In such a situation, bringing such issues is so distasteful. How can you trivialise such a huge tragedy?,” said Rahman.
Meanwhile Poornima Indrajith, who has been camping and working tirelessly to help evacuees under the anvil of Anbodu Kochi, an NGO, believes that she isn’t wasting a moment dwelling on such hate and bigotry.
“Do we even need to talk about it? I am more concerned about helping my people around me than wonder what the haters on social media are up to. I am more concerned about all those who are traumatised about going back to their homes that have been destroyed or those who have no homes to go to. We don’t have time for haters … We are here helping each other in every possible way and that’s what counts.”
Poornima, who is married to popular actor Indrajith, also believes that the Kerala floods has unveiled the collective humanity among people.
“I am a celebrity and I may get interviewed, but there are hundreds around me who have been working round the clock and have been selfless. Whether we are Malayalis, Tamilians, Hindus or Muslims, we have kept our politics aside. It’s our spirit for humanity that’s helping us go forward,” said Indrajith.
The heavy rains in Kerala has left the state battered and has displaced more than 220,000 and killed 340 people.
