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PM Modi Draws Flak For Cracking Insensitive Joke Using Dyslexia

byPramit Chatterjee
4th March 2019
2 minute read

Back in 2007, I (and probably a ton of other Indians) didn’t have any idea about dyslexia and perceived a child’s inability to score as a “problem” only. That’s when a little movie called ‘Taare Zameen Par’ released and educated us about the learning disorder. It helped us to understand how we can detect people with dyslexia and channel their creativity in various ways.

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However, by the looks of it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has likely ignored the teachings of that movie and has thus ended up making some insensitive comments regarding dyslexia.

In a recent interaction with the students of IIT Kharagpur, PM Narendra Modi made an insensitive joke while a girl was explaining a yojana that can help dyslexic people.

As the girl was explaining what dyslexia is, the PM interrupted her and said: “Toh koi 40-50 saal ke bacche ko bhi ye yojana kaam ayegi” (Will this plan work on a 40-50 year old kid?). Now, for the uninitiated, this might seem like any other joke. But given how the Lok Sabha elections are getting closer, it’s apparent that it was targeted towards Rahul Gandhi (who’s often referred to as a youth leader despite 48 years old).

And as if that wasn’t enough, the students cheered and clapped at Narendra Modi’s joke, who then went onto claim that this yojana will make a mother proud, thereby referring to Sonia Gandhi.

Given how dyslexia is no joking matter and not a subject to be used for scoring political points, PM Modi’s comments have been widely criticised. According to Scroll, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled has stated that,

“In an uncalled for and totally insensitive response, the Prime Minister tried to portray all dyslexic people in poor light. It is all the more unpardonable as it comes from a person holding such a high office.”

The group further said that,

“The PM should under no circumstances be making such a remark. It also displays scant respect for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, according to which this constitutes an offence. The least the PM can do is apologise for his remarks.”

Netizens who are aware of the learning disorder have criticised the Prime Minister and demanded an apology from him.

https://twitter.com/RoshanKrRai/status/1101904751678042112

https://twitter.com/sanidhyabali/status/1102467250664046592

https://twitter.com/YogaVedanta_/status/1102403492595941376

People like Richard Branson, Tom Cruise, Leonardo da Vinci, Walt Disney, Jim Carrey, Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy, George Washington, Keira Knightley, John Lennon, Pablo Picasso, Guy Ritchie, Steven Spielberg or Steve Jobs all have (or had) dyslexia and they went on to become the most famous faces in their profession. So, maybe PM Modi should look into that before associating dyslexic people to his morning jokes.

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