http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150425/jsp/nation/story_16557.jsp#.VTssClS6bIU
Our Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram, April 24: Newly inducted CPM central committee member Elamaram Kareem has waded into a controversy over a speech in which he allegedly insulted disabled persons. Kareem, who was the industries minister in the previous Left government, faced a barrage of protests and was forced to tender an apology. Speaking at the inauguration of a people's march organised by the Citu-affiliated Kerala State Road Transport Corporation Employees' Association in Kasargode district in the state's north yesterday, Kareem touched upon the financial crisis in the corporation and blamed it on the decisions of ministers to hand out doles to various sections. Ads by ZINC "Every minister wants to announce some dole or other - one (announces free travel) for the blind, then another for the deaf, next minister for those who are limping, another for LKG students and then for UKG students... Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan (current transport minister) didn't find anything else, so he announced (free travel) for students till higher secondary," Kareem told the gathering. As his comments led to a flurry of protests, mostly on social media, Kareem was forced to tender an "unconditional apology". In a Facebook post today, Kareem said he had not intended to insult disabled people in any way. "I was only trying to explain that it is the state government's irresponsible attitude of announcing free travel for various groups to win people's applause and not paying KSRTC to make this up that was pushing the corporation into severe loss. "Remarks about differently abled people which came up during this explanation and caused them hurt were not deliberate. It should not have happened. If it did hurt anyone, I offer unconditional apologies," he said in the post. Kareem added that the criticism would help him work more responsibly as a member of a party that stood by the disabled. Kareem, 61, who began his political career in the trade union, was elevated to the CPM central committee at the just-concluded party congress in Visakhapatnam. -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
