The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell has awoken once again. This time, in response to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s statement on the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Calling the current happenings in India as ‘sad’ and ‘bad’ at a Microsoft event he said, “I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India, or becomes the CEO of Infosys, that should be the aspiration, if I had to sort of mirror what happened to me in the US, I hope that’s what happens in India.
By popular demand, here’s the verbate pic.twitter.com/I8YcMDJsf8
— Ben Smith (@BuzzFeedBen) January 13, 2020
However, to make Satya Nadella’s statement politically correct, Microsoft India issued a slightly altered version of his original statement.
Statement from Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft pic.twitter.com/lzsqAUHu3I
— Microsoft India (@MicrosoftIndia) January 13, 2020
But, by then the backlash was simmering against this statement, had bubbled over and spilt on social media.
How literate need to be educated ! Perfect example. Precise reason for CAA is to grant opportunities to persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan & Afghanistan.
How about granting these opportunities to Syrian Muslims instead of Yezidis in USA ? pic.twitter.com/eTm0EQ1O25— Meenakashi Lekhi (@M_Lekhi) January 14, 2020
I wish @satyanadella who is from my alma mater @ManipalUni had taken a few minutes n undrstood #CAA bfr respnding ??♂️
There – was no n is no – problm on anyone legally resident in India from anywhere bcming ceo of infosys or a unicorn or even @MicrosoftIndia https://t.co/6dIuiP2Rg7
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@rajeev_mp) January 13, 2020
Sir, @satyanadella, you should know by now, after multiple clarifications by the govt, that passage of CAA does not keep anyone from applying for Indian citizenship..
Any person can apply for India’s citizenship including Bangladeshis. https://t.co/TiPUZGRYtT
— Amrita Bhinder (@amritabhinder) January 13, 2020
Satya Nadella has no idea what he is talking about. CAA is not about immigration. It’s about helping small number of persecuted refugees get citizenship. It doesn’t ban entry to anyone. His remarks to Ben were flat-out accurate.
— Hindu Americans (@HinduAmericans) January 13, 2020
Yet, many people, including noted historian Ramachandra Guha who was detained in Bangalore for staging peaceful protests against the CAA, reiterated his stand.
I am glad Satya Nadella has said what he has. I wish that one of our own IT czars had the courage and wisdom to say this first. Or to say it even now. https://t.co/KsKbDUtMQk
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) January 13, 2020
It takes #SatyaNadella to remind us that its an open humane society that can create a talent-rewarding growing economy. Backward looking, state power wielding hard Hindutva is terrible for the economy and bad for business.https://t.co/7dZP42RyuC
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) January 14, 2020
Thank you @satyanadella for speaking out & raising your voice about the #CAA. You expressed beautifully what I, too, feel. We are both shaped by our “Indian heritage, growing up in multicultural India & our immigrant experiences in US.” https://t.co/aRWhY7bSCG
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 14, 2020
Before Nadella, a group of techies under the name TechAgainstFascism from companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Uber, etc had written an open letter urging business leaders like Sundar Pichai, Mukesh Ambani and even Nadella to publicly denounce the “fascist acts” by the Indian government. About the CAA, the letter said, “The Act is political and electoral towards building a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, while excluding persecuted Tamil Muslims from Sri Lanka, Ahmadiyya and Hazara Muslims from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.”
Nadella’s statement, however, just reaffirms that the anti-CAA-NPR-NRC protests that have been raging for over a month now, have attracted international attention. More than 25 people have lost their lives in these protests, most due to police brutalities unleashed on protesters.
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