On October 9, a video of students of Maulana Azad Medical College went viral on social media platforms in which they mocked Sudama and Bhagwan Krishna by portraying Sudama as a drunkard. In the 44-second video shared by Author Anshul Pandey, the ‘Are Dwarpalon Kanhaiya Ko Kehdo’ song is playing in the background.
One of the girls performing on the stage portrayed herself in Krishna’s form. A male actor comes from the right of the screen portraying Sudama in a drunkard state. He fumbles and sits on the stage and then throws currency notes in the air. Then, the actor stands up and walks towards the centre of the stage while portraying it as if he is drinking alcohol directly from the bottle.
Towards the end, he goes towards the actor playing Krishna and offers her a drink from his bottle. The crowd cheers.
Maulana Azad Medical College students in their fest disrespected Bhagwan Krishna and Sudama, who portrayed as Alcoholic
— Anshul Pandey (@Anshulspiritual) October 9, 2022
As per Scriptures, Sudama could not afford proper meal, forget about Alcohol! Pathetic people. pic.twitter.com/m7KQUjiHNG
Speaking to OpIndia, Pandey said, “I was disgusted when I saw the video. I wanted everyone to see what was happening in the name of ‘art’. After the video went viral, I got a DM on Twitter with the said “apology” letter that I shared on my timeline. I want to ask them if they think we Hindus will sit back just after the apology. I believe because we do not take strict action against such activities, they feel it is okay to mock Sanatan Dharma.”
When asked if he felt the apology was enough, he said, “I did not see the apology from the students. If you see, it is just a sort of notification from the Residential Doctors Association at the medical college that they allegedly took some action against the student. I am not convinced that just banning them from performing in the future is enough to put an end to this “culture” of mocking Hindus. To be honest, the act of the students comes under Section 295A. I hope they understand that they have hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community.”
OpIndia reached out to sources in the college to understand the situation. A resident doctor who was aware of the situation told OpIndia on the condition of anonymity that this was the first time that the Residents Doctors Association and Azad Medicos Association organised the four-day annual fest Synapse. “When the seniors noticed that the act could hurt the sentiments of a community, they called the members of Mahaul Makers, the group that performed the satirical act, and asked them to give a written apology,” said our source.
OpIndia has asked for a copy of the written apology from the students, and we will add it when and if we receive it.
He further said, “Many of the doctors here are devotees of Bhagwan Krishna. We understand that they might have argued, but the apology was rendered without any condition. We only want to put an end to this controversy as it will unnecessarily harm the name of the institute. I can assure you that the students involved in the act will not be allowed to perform in the future, and the group Mahaul Makers has been disbanding as well.”
The press release by the Resident Doctors Association
The Resident Doctors Association of the Maulana Azad Medical College issued a Press Release on the matter. They said, “We wish to clarify that the said incident happened on the evening of September 27 2022, during a satirical comedy event as part of the annual college fest. The college festival- Synapse was a 4-day event organised by the Residents Doctors Association and Azad Medicos Association as a joint venture. Given the competitive nature of the event, the script for the same was undisclosed. And was against the rules and regulations of the organising committee.”
We apologise for the appalling act.
— Resident Doctors Association MAMC (@MamcRda) October 11, 2022
A strict action was duly taken the very next day the said incident happened.
Secularism is what we practice and humanity is what we serve. @Anshulspiritual @ShubhamShuklaMP @AshishOnGround @AnonnaDutt @AskAnshul @Iam_Ayushmann pic.twitter.com/peRRd1DQsT
They added, “Whereas the act depicted in the video was demeaning and unethical, the cultural society performing it (called Mahaul Makers) was unconditionally banned and disqualified from any future activities on the campus, the very next day, i.e. September 28. A written apology was also requisitioned and furnished.”
Emphasising the role of the college and hospital in the Covid pandemic, they said, “MAMC and Lok Nayak Hospital have a national record of treating the maximum number of COVID patients in the recent pandemic, leading from the front since the pandemic began.” Furthermore, the association said the college believes in ‘secularism’. They said, “Since the 62 years that this college has served the country with excellence in medical care, SECULARISM has been at the core of many values that it imparts.”
Mahaul Makers have a history of performing exactly the same script
During our research about the group Mahaul Makers, we found out that their Instagram page had been deleted. Furthermore, we found videos from past performances, and one specific video from 2018 caught our attention. In the video, the members of Mahaul Makers performed exactly the same script. Now the question arises, why was no action taken against them at that time and if the current reaction come only after the uproar?
Interestingly, one of the copies went missing from social media after we mentioned it while talking to our source. It now shows that the video is private. This was the first result when we searched Mahaul Makers on YouTube.
The video now shows that it is private. OpIndia has a copy of the video from 2018.
