Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced severe backlash on Twitter over the weekend for his ‘joke’ on people with dyslexia – with people calling it insensitive, shameful and distressing, among others.
A student at the Smart India Hackathon 2019, while interacting with the PM Modi via video conferencing, was talking about her idea of helping students with dyslexia.
The prime minister soon interrupted her to ask:
“Will this work for a 40-50 year-old child too?” PM Modi asked.
When the student replied in affirmative, he went on to say:
“Then that will make the mothers of such children very happy,” to applause from her peers.
The remark was seen as a veiled attack at Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
‘Remarks in Bad Taste’
Pointing out that dyslexia is one of the most common learning disorders, people on Twitter called out the prime minister for “mocking a neurological condidion.”
Political analyst Sumanth Raman pointed that there were/are many great men and women who were all believed to be dyslexic.
‘Shameful and Distressing’
CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the Modi’s remarks “shameful.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Preeti Sharma Menon said that as a parent, she would not want her kid to listen to a speaker who used dyslexia as a slur.
‘Distasteful Political Humour’
People on Twitter also accused prime minister of crassness, with many stating that cracking a joke about the neurological condition was not the way to target a political opponent.
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