Create awareness than ridicule: Cong slams PM Modi over 'suicide note' joke

The Congress on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a joke made by him involving a suicide note, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying that the PM and those laughing heartily at his joke ought to educate themselves better rather than "ridicule" mental health issues in an "insensitive" manner.

Prime Minister Modi, while speaking at a media channel conclave on Wednesday, narrated a joke about a professor reading a suicide note by his daughter and remarking how she had got a spelling wrong despite his efforts for so many years.

The joke was made by the prime minister while also remarking that the editor-in-chief of the channel had started speaking well in Hindi.

In a tweet in Hindi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said thousands of families lose their children to suicide and "the prime minister should not make fun of them".

Tagging the video of Modi's joke at the conclave, Priyanka Gandhi in a tweet said, "Depression and suicide, especially among the youth IS NOT a laughing