PM Modi’s remark on dyslexia irks disability rights activists

While many disability rights groups demanded an apology from the Prime Minister, disability rights advocates have called for action on the comment under Section 7 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, that protects the person with disabilities from being subjected to cruelty, inhuman, and degrading treatments and from all forms of abuse, violence, and exploitation.

“People with disabilities such as dyslexia are being treated in a wrong way. The Prime Minister who holds such an important post cannot use dyslexic people to ridicule his political rivals. Dyslexia is not a word to insult or abuse anyone. He has not only hurt the sentiments of people suffering from it but his comment also came as an abuse to them. The law remains the same for all and therefore, National Commissioner for People with Disabilities should take necessary action against him if PM does not apologise for his action,” said AM Venkatakrishnan, a disability rights advocate practising at the Supreme Court and High Court of Madras.

“People should reject parties and politicians who don’t respect citizens, including persons with disabilities,” said Smitha Sadasivan, member of Disability Rights Alliance India. Commenting on the matter, All India Mahila Congress general secretary and communication in-charge Apsara Reddy said insensitive statements have an effect on children with dyslexia and instil sadness in families.

The controversy was triggered during an interaction that the PM had via video conferencing at the finals of the Smart India Hackathon at IIT Kharagpur. When a student explained her project saying dyslexic children can be very creative despite suffering from learning difficulties, he interrupted and asked if it would also help children who are 40-50 years old, indirectly targeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi. When the student replied in the affirmative, PM Modi commented that the mothers of such children would be very happy. The comment triggered a row, with netizens taking to various social media platforms to criticise the PM.