Premature End To Anti-CAA Lobby’s Euphoria As Satya Nadella Issues Statement Blunting Earlier Criticism

After Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella began receiving backlash over his remarks on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, his company acted promptly and issued a statement to neutralise the situation and clarify on his optimism for an immigrant in India, reported Firstpost.

The statement by Nadella which was shared by Microsoft India, said that every country needs to define its borders and set an immigration policy in order to protect its national security.

“Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly. And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds,” said the India-born CEO.

“I'm shaped by my Indian heritage, growing up in a multicultural India and my immigrant experience in the United States. My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to find a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large,” he added in his statement.

This outburst came after on Monday (13 January), after the Microsoft CEO was quoted as saying, "I think what is happening is sad...It's just bad...I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or become the next CEO of Infosys."

These remarks did not go down well with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and party MP Meenakshi Lekhi was among the first ones who trained guns at the corporate biggie on Tuesday (14 January).

Calling it a "perfect example" of "How literate need to be educated", Lekhi tweeted, "Precise reason for CAA to grant opportunities to persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"How about granting these opportunities to Syrian Muslims instead of Yezidis in USA?"

Lekhi's analogy of providing "opportunities" to Syrian Muslims instead of Yezidis in the US was intended to highlight the victims have been the religious minority facing persecution, who are being given priority through the CAA.

(With inputs from IANS)