Guwahati: Indian fans of BTS, a South Korean boy band, have come together to raise funds for those affected by the devastating Assam floods.
Amid the rising COVID-19 cases, the flood situation in Assam remained grim on Saturady, as five more deaths were reported from four districts, taking the death toll due to the deluge to 76, while around 40 lakh people across 27 of the state’s 33 districts have been affected.
The initiative, which kicked off on Wednesday led by the Twitter fan page @btshelpsindia, met their goal of five lakhs in under 24 hours, even raking in an extra half lakh before closing the donation portal.
A Facebook user named Bhavana posted saying that she had reached out to the BTS fan group in India to urge them to come forward and help Assam.
https://www.facebook.com/bhavanabarman/posts/3130163377076560
The group then took the cause forward and tweeted asking fans to contribute to the fund.
Come together to help Assam in need!
Every donation counts a lot.
Do spread the carrd to reach more ?
(For less than 100 INR, select paytm/UPI)#ProtectAssam#AssamFloods #AssamNeedsUs #AssamFloods #AssamDeservesBetterhttps://t.co/IdApuIXf31— BTS Project India⁷ ?? (@BTSprojectINDIA) July 16, 2020
This is not the first time the BTS fans have jumped at the opportunity to make a difference when it actually counts.
After seeing the efforts by the fandom, the same Facebook user commented, “For those who don’t know, BTS is a South Korean band that has a huge fanbase including India. They are the same group that you laugh calling hijra, chakka, gay, dari nuhuwa, plastic, lipsync and what not. But what you don’t know is that they constantly sing about self love and mental health. They donate millions of dollars every year and are official brand ambassadors of UNICEF in South Korea. Their fans never shy away from donating too.”
Earlier this ear BTS donated USD one million to the #BlackLivesMatter movement which led to a massive ARMY-led charity drive called #MatchAMillion where the fandom attempted to match the amount donated by BTS. At the end of the campaign the fandom had contributed over USD two million, doubling BTS’ own donation.
