Published: 06th March 2019
Chennai disability group files complaint against Modi for dyslexic joke at Saidapet police station
The TARATDAC and the NPRD have filed a complaint at the Saidapet Police station in Chennai, others across the country have filed cases in their regions too
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The student was asking his suggestion about a project she was working on to help dyslexic people
Various disability rights associations have filed a complaint against the Prime Minister of the country for joking about dyslexia. About ten representatives from the Tamilnadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled Caregivers (TARATDAC) which is affiliated to the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) visited the Saidapet police station on Wednesday and submitted a complaint to the police.
S Namburajan, State General Secretary, TARATDAC, said that the association was not aware of the incident till two days later. "The Prime Minister had mocked dyslexics in his interaction with a young student and that is completely unacceptable. We only came to know of the incident later and the NPRD associated groups from across the country decided to put out a statement in light of the event," he said.
Disability Rights: The members of TARATDAC at the Saidapet police station
In the statement, the TARATDAC and NPRD had demanded that the PM apologise for his remarks as many parents of dyslexic students and many dyslexics themselves had been offended by it. "We had mentioned in the statement that if he did not apologise then we would file a case against him and since he hasn't responded, we've decided to lodge a complaint," he said.
After waiting for a couple of days, the associations unanimously decided to file a complaint. The complaint has been registered under section 92(a) that states that anyone who intentionally insults or intimidates with intent to humiliate a person with disability in any place within public view will be punished.
When asked how the association would respond if the PM does not pay any heed to the complaint, the general secretary said that it would lead to protests. "If he does not respond it will definitely lead to protests because we cannot accept such behaviour from anybody even the Prime Minister," he said.
However, when Edex spoke to the Saidapet police they claimed to have not received the complaint.
