After Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s India-born head Sundar Pichai has come out in support of Muslims saying it is important to have a diverse mix of voices and backgrounds to build a company or leading a country.
In a post on website Medium , Pichai wrote, it is “disheartening to see the intolerant discourse playing out in the news.” He was referring to Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s comments seeking ban on Muslim entry into the US,
Here’s what he wrote :
“I debated whether to post this, because lately it seems that criticism of intolerance just gives more oxygen to this debate. But I feel we must speak out — particularly those of us who are not under attack,” he wrote.
“Let’s not let fear defeat our values. We must support Muslim and other minority communities in the US and around the world,” he said.
He spoke of the importance of immigrants to the US.
“It’s been said a million times that America is the “land of opportunity” — 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,” he wrote.
“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 — America, after all, was and is a country of immigrants,” he said.
Speaking about his own experience as being an immigrant, the Google CEO said it was disheartening to see the intolerance playing out in the news.
Republican hopeful Donald Trump had caused international outrage earlier this week when he called for “a total and complete shutdown” on Muslims entering the US.
In a response, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had pledged support to Muslims around the world and said the social networking giant would fight to protect their rights and create a “peaceful and safe” environment for them.
“I want to add my voice in support of Muslims in our community and around the world. After the Paris attacks and hate this week, I can only imagine the fear Muslims feel that they will be persecuted for the actions of others,” he wrote on his page.