Sabbir Bhatia (left) Sridhar Vembu (right)
An online battle between two billionaires over how India should look at its past has sparked a row on social media, with Indian-origin tech entrepreneurs Sabbir Bhatia and Sridhar Vembu falling out after Vembu compared Bhatia’s statements to calling on Jews to “appreciate” the Holocaust.The spat began after Bhatia, the Indian-American co-founder of Hotmail, posted a letter urging Indians to acknowledge the positive and negative parts of the country’s history instead of remaining “trapped in endless battles over the past.”“India should be able to appreciate every chapter of its history without feeling threatened by it. The Mughals left behind magnificent architecture, arts, cuisine, language and culture.
The British left behind the institutions, the infrastructure and the English language, which opened doors for millions, including me. “I would not have achieved what I have without mastering the English language,” Bhatia wrote on X.He added: “A mature civilization recognizes the achievements and mistakes of its past. However, today too much energy is spent hating what came before us rather than building on it. We must be grateful to the generations who laid the foundations we inherited, learn from history, and focus our attention on creating a better future.”
He also said: “The future is full of opportunities. Let us seize them instead of remaining stuck in endless battles over the past.”Some users agreed that India should adopt a balanced view of history, while others accused Bhatia of downplaying the suffering that occurred during foreign invasions and colonial rule.
A tough response came from Fembo, the billionaire co-founder of Zoho, who rejected the idea that painful periods of history should simply be “appreciated.”“Does Sabir Bhatia advise Jews to ‘appreciate’ the Holocaust chapter of their history?” Fembo wrote in response.“As a matter of fact, it is only because the Jews remember history and say ‘never again,’ that they were able to build Israel with all its technological prowess and also revive the Hebrew language,” Fembo said.“Bharat will do it all. We will rebuild our great civilisation, we will remember our history (never again!) and honor the memory of our ancestors, and we will also revive our great languages,” he added.One of the first Indian-origin tech pioneers in Silicon Valley, Bhatia was born in Chandigarh and raised in Bengaluru. He co-founded Hotmail in 1996 before it was acquired by Microsoft two years later. He has often spoken about how learning English helped shape his career.Vembu was born in Tamil Nadu and founded Zoho Corporation in 1996 after studying at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Princeton University. In recent years, he has become known for his advocacy for rural development, Indian languages, and decentralized growth in the technology sector.Sridhar Vembu previously said that Indian professionals do not need to move to the US for opportunities and should build their careers in India. It advocates “reverse migration” of skilled workers and supports the development of technology and jobs within India, including in small towns and rural areas.
