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Twitterati slam Modi over Kerala-Somalia comparison

Trivandrum - Malayalees from across the world hit Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites mocking, satirising and rejecting Modi's controversial remarks.

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By Web Report/ T.K. Devasia

Published: Thu 12 May 2016, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Sun 15 May 2016, 10:16 AM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comparison of Kerala with Somalia has set off a storm in the social media. He had compared Kerala with the sub-Saharan African country in infant mortality rate among the tribes community. While addressing an election rally in the state capital on Sunday, Modi said the rate in Kerala was worse than Somalia.
Malayalees from across the world hit Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites mocking, satirising and rejecting Modi's controversial remarks. Twitter users ripped off Modi under the hashtag #PoMoneModi. The phrase "Po Mone" is a popular movie reference that literally means "go back, son".

While Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has termed the remark as an insult to Kerala, many netizens have viewed it as a reflection of Modi's ignorance, making a veiled reference to the raging row over his academic qualification. Many took a dig at him by comparing the human development index of Kerala with Gujarat, a state he ruled for 13 years.
One even drew a comparative table showing the rankings of the two states in various spheres. The table shows Gujarat trailing far below Kerala in many basic indicators of educational, health, social and economic progress.
Many netizens felt Modi's comments will arouse Malayali pride and may even upset his Bharatiya Janata Party's applecart in Kerala in the May 16 Assembly elections. "When he hurt Bihari pride, Bihar paid him back. Now it's Kerala's turn," said a Twitter use in #PoMoneModi hashtag. "Keralites, best response to Modi for comparing Kerala to Somalia is to make sure every single BJP contestant loses his deposit," said another comment.

Here’s what he said in the speech —

“The unemployment rate in Kerala is at least three times higher than the national average. Infant mortality rate among the Scheduled Tribe community in Kerala is worse than Somalia. The state can meet only 13 percent of their requirement of agricultural products. Even after 70 years of independence, Kerala depends on other states for 70 percent of its power requirements. Similarly, most of the youth in Kerala are forced to leave their home state in search of job. Only through overall development, the state could be brought back to its past glory.”

The prime minister seemed to have made the controversial comment on the basis of an image carried by the media in which a couple of boys belonging to a scheduled tribe was shown eating out of waste dump in Kannur district. However, enquiries made by the government revealed that the featured boys belonged to families of farm labourers who had a steady employment and in possession of an acre of land.
According to the inquiry report submitted to the government on November 18 last year, the boys were among a few students at a school at Vekkalam near Peravoor, who were in the habit of skipping classes and gathering scraps to buy food of their liking from hotels.

In his letter to Modi, the chief minister said that there was no need for a child in Kerala to eat stale food. He said that the state government has been providing free mid-day meal to 2.5 million school going students. They get egg on one day and milk on another in a week.
"You made a statement that had nothing to do with reality. This is unbecoming of a prime minister and has created a great deal of agony to the people of the state. Is it not a shame for a prime minister to pronounce that a state like Somalia exists in the country ruled by him?" the letter asked. The chief minister asked Modi to withdraw the baseless statement if he has some political decency. He pointed out that Kerala was above the national average in terms of economic growth and human development for the past five years.
"The quality of human resource in the state has received plaudits from the world at large. Still, you have compared with Somalia that is reeling under poverty and internal strife. This is humiliating to the state and the people," Chandy said.
The state unit of the BJP has come out in defence of Modi. Party chief Kummanam Rajashekharan said that the picture of the two boys rummaging for good at a waste dump in a tribal colony had shaken the conscience of the nation.
He accused the chief minister of evoking Malayali pride with an eye on the May 16 assembly polls.
The state BJP president said that the condition of scheduled caste and schedule tribes in Kerala had become deplorable due to the failure by the state government to implement various laws and measures introduced by the Modi government for their welfare.
The chief minister had also taken strong exception to the reference Modi and his party leaders made to the murder of a Dalit law student at Perumbavoor to suggest that Dalits were not safe under the Congress-rule. Chandy viewed it as a deliberate attempt to sow seeds of communalism in Kerala and urged the BJP not desist from sowing the poisonous seeds in the "God's Own Garden.

Modi trolled on Twitter
Twitter users have responded with hashtag #PoMoneModi which rips off 'Po Mone Dinesha,' a famous line from a Malayalam film and translates as "Son, you're dismissed, better head home".

On Wednesday, #PoMoneModi became one of the top trending topics on Twitter.


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Web Report/ T.K. Devasia

Published: Thu 12 May 2016, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Sun 15 May 2016, 10:16 AM

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