‘What’s Happening is Sad’: Microsoft CEO Nadella Weighs in on CAA

Responding to Buzzfeed news chief‘s question on CAA, Nadella said, “I think what’s happening is sad. It’s just bad”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Amid the ongoing debate over the contentious Citzenship (Amendment) Act, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday, 14 January, issued a statement mentioning that he hopes for an India “where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society and the economy at large.”

In an earlier interview with the Buzzfeed news Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, on Monday, Nadella expressed his thoughts over CAA and the National Register of Citizens brought in by the NDA-led government.

After Smith, as he says in his post, asked the Microsoft CEO about India's new Citizenship law, Nadella responded saying, "I think what's happening is sad. It's just bad."

Further, Nadella also said that he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant, who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys.

Later, the Buzzfeed news Editor-in-Chief released the verbatim of his conversation with Satya Nadella.

A portion of the conversation mentions that while Nadella acknowledged that immigration is an issue in India, "but the approach that one takes to deal with what is immigration, who are immigrants and minority groups, that sensibility."

Nadella, who belongs to Hyderabad, also expressed his thoughts over his multi-cultural background.

“I’m very proud of where I get my heritage, culturally in that place, and I grew up in a city, Hyderabad, I always felt it was a great place to grow up, we celebrated Eid, we celebrated Christmas, Diwali, all three festivals that are big for us,” BuzzFeed News quoted him as saying.

Mixed Responses to Nadella’s Comments

While Nadella’s remarks were lauded by historian Ramachandra Guha, journalist Kanchan Gupta tweeted, “ A Bangladeshi can enter India legally, seek & secure citizenship, create unicorn, or become CEO of any co. [company]”

Meanwhile, Meenakshi Lekhi was the first BJP lawmaker to hit out at Nadella for his remarks over the CAA.

“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?” Lekhi tweeted.

Nadella was speaking to editors at a Microsoft event in Manhattan on Monday morning. He is the first big name in the tech space to have spoken on the controversial law.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, which introduces a new legislation for providing citizenship to persecuted minorities for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, has led to widespread protests across India, with critics claiming that the new law goes against the Indian constitution by giving citizenship on the basis of religion.