Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella waded into India’s citizenship debate in January 2020, telling editors in Manhattan that he wished an immigrant could one day build the country’s next big company.
His remarks, relayed by BuzzFeed News editor Ben Smith, came as protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act spread across the country. “I 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,” Nadella said, according to Smith.
Hours later, Nadella issued a fuller statement through Microsoft that avoided naming the law. “Every country will and should define its borders, protect national security and set immigration policy accordingly,” he wrote. “And in democracies, that is something that the people and their governments will debate and define within those bounds.”
“My hope is for an India where an immigrant can aspire to found a prosperous start-up or lead a multinational corporation benefitting Indian society & the economy at large,” he added.
The law, notified on January 11, fast-tracks citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who arrived before December 31, 2014 and face religious persecution. It opens a citizenship path to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians after six years of residence instead of the usual 12. The Supreme Court was set to hear 59 petitions challenging the act on January 22.
Nadella, who was born in India and moved to the United States in 1988 as a student, framed his view around his own path. Historian Ramachandra Guha, a critic of the law, wished an Indian tech leader had spoken up first, while T V Mohandas Pai, a former Infosys board member who backs the law, accused Nadella of being confused by misinformation.
Sources
- Satya Nadella hopes one day an immigrant would lead Indian multinational
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