Google CEO Sundar Pichai's Comments From 2015 Is The Mantra India Needs Right Now

A controversial citizenship law has been at the centre of heated debates across India for over a week, with the protests happening in the capital as well as other places across the country, causing disharmony in the entire nation.

The Citizenship Amendment Act and upcoming NRC bill (as per Home Minister Amit Shah's past comments) is causing anger and frustration among Indians across large cities and town, energizing them to demonstrate and protest against the act's seemingly anti-constitutional nature.

Reuters

Politics aside, this toxicity isn't healthy for any democracy to flourish. It brings to mind a blogpost from 2015, written by Google CEO Sundar Pichai which talks about a situation in the US at the time, not very different from what India's facing right now.

Pichai starts by talking about his experience entering the United States as an immigrant, and how America has helped him attain success.

¡°My experience is obviously not unique. It¡¯s been said a million times that America is the ¡°land of opportunity¡± ¡ª for millions of immigrants, it¡¯s not an abstract notion, but a concrete description of what we find here. America provided access to opportunities that simply didn¡¯t exist for many of us before we arrived. And it¡¯s not just about opportunity. The open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance of new Americans is one of the country¡¯s greatest strengths and most defining characteristics. And that is no coincidence ¡ª America, after all, was and is a country of immigrants.¡±

There he talks about anti-Muslim statements made by US President Donald Trump and how it makes Muslims in the United States feel -- similar, if not worse, for the way Muslims in India are feeling today.

¡°That is why it¡¯s so disheartening to see the intolerant discourse playing out in the news these days ¡ª statements that our country would be a better place without the voices, ideas and the contributions of certain groups of people, based solely on where they come from, or their religion.¡±

Reuters

He speaks about the kind of positivity a diverse culture brings to a nation, stating, ¡°I walk around the campus where I work and see a vibrant mix of races and cultures. Every one of those people has a different voice ¡­ a different perspective ¡­ a different story to tell. All of that makes our company an exciting and special place to be, and allows us to do great things together. We are urgently working to become much more diverse, because it¡¯s so important to our future success.¡±

He concludes stating, ¡°I firmly believe that whether you¡¯re building a company or leading a country, a diverse mix of voices and backgrounds and experiences leads to better discussions, better decisions, and better outcomes for everyone. Let¡¯s not let fear defeat our values. We must support Muslim and other minority communities in the US and around the world."

This is the mantra India needs to follow today.