Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expresses concern over CAA

Microsoft’s
Indian-origin CEO Satya Nadella on Monday voiced concern over the contentious
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying what was happening was “sad”
and he would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant create the next unicorn in
India.

His comments
came while speaking to editors at a Microsoft event in Manhattan where he was
asked about the contentious issue of CAA which grants citizenship to persecuted
non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“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 becomes
the next CEO of Infosys,” Nadella was quoted to sources

Nadella
further said, “I mean after all immigration is an issue in this country
(United States). It’s an issue in Europe and it’s an issue in India. But the
approach one takes to deal with what is immigration, who are immigrants and
minroity groups, that sensibility.”

In a
statement issued later by Microsoft India, Nadella said: “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.

The Centre
last week issued a gazette notification announcing that the CAA has come into
effect from January 10, 2020.

The CAA was
passed by Parliament on December 11.

According to
the legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian
communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till
December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution will not be treated as illegal
immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

There have
been widespread protests against the Act in different parts of the country
resulting in violence in many places.