Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu, responding to American investor Eric Weinstein in a post on X, said he does not hate racists. He noted that companies and nations are built by people who believe "it can be done", emphasising that the urgent national priority is to build.
These remarks come days after Chicago police announced they had thwarted a potential mass shooting and arrested a 19-year-old suspected of planning an attack on a Hindu place of worship, according to The Associated Press.
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Weinstein, in an X post on Friday, said, “Seeing a lot of growing raw hatred against India, Indians, Hindus, Indian-Americans, etc. for no reason. Would be happy to have anyone who feels that hatred quietly unfollow me. Simple. Clean. Thanks in advance.”
Following this, the Zoho founder said in the post, "Until India develops, based on the talents of our own people, we will not find true respect in the world, no matter whether right, left or center is in charge anywhere."
He added, "The racist shows us a mirror and asks: "if your nation is smart, why do you want to come here". I do not hate him, I want to respond by building."
{{/usCountry}}He added, "The racist shows us a mirror and asks: "if your nation is smart, why do you want to come here". I do not hate him, I want to respond by building."
{{/usCountry}}Further asserting that, while some Indians may "agree with the racist," he harbours no hatred towards them either.
"Some Indians agree with the racist and think India will never develop. I do not hate them either, I want to respond by building," Vembu noted.
"Companies and nations are built by people who believe it can be done. The urgent national priority is to build, build and build," he concluded.
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Teen accused of plotting mass shooting at Hindu temple in US
19-year-old Alexandros Paporakis, a Taco Bell cashier from Palatine, Illinois, is reportedly facing felony charges of making a terrorist threat and unlawful possession of weapons.
According to the AP report, dated October 15, the officials investigating the case believed that the accused had planned to target the largest Hindu temple in Aurora, Illinois.
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Meanwhile, Paporakis' coworkers have said that he openly identified as a white supremacist at work and told them he could not wait to kill Indian people, the report added, citing prosecutors from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
(with inputs from AP)