INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Narendra Modi is facing an election by the end of May
A leading expert
in child psychology says that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must apologise after he appeared to poke fun at dyslexia at a public
event, triggering outrage.Mr Modi questioned if a programme for dyslexic children could also help a "40 to 50-year-old child" - in remarks
that appeared to be an attempt to ridicule his political rival Rahul Gandhi."When the head of a country talks like this, it is very, very
He must apologise," Dr Roma Kumar said.Her voice adds weight to the wave of condemnation of Mr Modi's comments.Dr Kumar is a clinical
psychologist who specialises in learning disabilities and has worked at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital for the past three decades.Dyslexia
is a common learning difficulty that can affect reading, writing and spelling
Some well-known people with dyslexia include director Steven Spielberg and actors Tom Cruise and Abhishek Bachchan.According to a 2015
government estimate, at least 10% - or nearly 35 million - Indian children are dyslexic, although Dr Kumar says she believes the numbers to
be much higher because there's "very little awareness" about the condition."In the metro cities, teachers and parents are a little
sensitised, but in smaller towns and rural areas, there is very little awareness
We don't have the tools to identify the children with learning difficulties in government schools, smaller towns and villages," she says.Mr
Modi's comments were made on Saturday night when he was addressing engineering students who were participating in the Smart India Hackathon
- an event meant to encourage students to come up with technology-driven solutions to issues related to women and child safety.The
controversial comments came as an engineering student began telling Mr Modi - who was speaking via video link - about her programme.Image
copyrightAravinda TegginamathImage caption
Bangalore-based cartoonist Aravinda Tegginamath's illustration has been
shared by hundreds on Twitter
"We have an idea to help dyslexic children," she said, "whose pace of learning and writing is
But they have a high intelligence and creativity level." She then referred to Taare Zameen Par, the 2007 Bollywood hit film which centred
At this point, the prime minister interrupted her and asked, "Will this programme work for a 40 to 50-year-old child too"As the room
dissolved into laughter and students began clapping, she answered: "Yes sir, it will."But before she could move on, the prime minister again
interjected, saying: "Then that will make the mothers of such children very happy." Though Mr Modi did not name any names, it was
immediately obvious that he was attempting to ridicule Rahul Gandhi, the opposition Congress party president, and his mother, Sonia Gandhi,
India faces a looming election before the end of May.Considering there's never been any talk of Mr Gandhi being dyslexic, the prime
minister's latest comments are being seen as a distasteful attempt to denigrate his political rival
Mr Modi has often described Mr Gandhi as "Pappu" - a generic name to signify a bumbling man of low intelligence.But the joke seems to have
backfired, with the prime minister being castigated for his remarks
Many opposition leaders and citizens took to social media to criticise him: Neither Mr Gandhi nor his Congress party have so far commented
Mr Modi and his BJP party have not responded to the criticism.His supporters on Twitter - normally highly vocal - have not addressed the
issue directly, though a few suggested that Mr Modi was mocking Rahul Gandhi and not dyslexics.But on social media and in press commentary,
condemnation has been the overwhelming sentiment
Mr Modi, says Dr Kumar, "should apologise to the country, especially to those children and young adults who are dyslexic".
