PM Modi gets schooled by 15-year-old dyslexic girl on how to be kind

Upset by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s insensitive remarks on dyslexia at a recent event in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Roorkee, a 15-year-old girl from Bellandur, suffering from the neurological condition, gave a message to the former and schooled him on how to be kind.

“Do you know what I go through? Society just pities me and moves on and leaders can’t understand. We are children who know how to be kind, to love and accept, and be ready to face whatever comes our way!,” The Times of India quoted the girl as saying.

During an interaction with students at the Smart India Hackathon 2019 organised by IIT Roorkee on Saturday on Saturday, a student from Uttarakhand was explaining her project to PM Modi via video conference.

“Dyslexic children are those whose learning and writing pace is very slow but creativity level and intelligence is quite good,” The Indian Express quoted the student as saying. She then gave the example of Bollywood movie Taare Zameen Par.

To this, PM Modi replied, “Will your scheme help a kid who is 40-50 years old?”

Also read: Disgusting attitude: Rights group slam PM Modi over dyslexia remark

When the student said yes, PM Modi replied, “Then it will make the mothers of such children happy.”

Disgusted by the same, parents of dyslexic students have questioned the rule which makes it mandatory for such students to produce a certificate every year to become eligible for certain academic exemptions.

Earlier on Sunday, the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), a coalition of cross-disability rights groups from across the country, demanded that PM Modi apologise to differently-abled for his statement.

“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,” the NPRD said in a statement issued on Sunday.