ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoho CEO Vembu urges diaspora return after Trump "hellhole" comment
Vembu distanced himself from both the American left and the right and claimed that Indian Americans will not benefit from either side.
-
Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Mon, 27, Apr 2026
- 04:09 EDT
- 258
Sridhar Vembu / Sridhar Vembu via X
Scientist and former CEO of Zoho Corporation, Sridhar Vembu, urged Indian Americans to return to India after the recent "hellhole" comment about India and Indians by the United States president, Donald Trump.
Vembu, in an X post, described how he reached the United States 37 years ago, poor in money and rich in education and cultural heritage. He stated that this experience was shared among almost all Indians moving to the U.S.
He continued, "You achieved outstanding success. America was good to us. For that we must remain grateful — gratitude is our Bharatiya way."
Open letter to Indians in America.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) April 27, 2026
--
Dear brothers and sisters from Bharat:
Like I did 37 years ago, you arrived in America with no money but with a good education and cultural heritage from Bharat. You achieved outstanding success. America was good to us. For that we must…
However, Vembu remarked, "A significant number of Americans, maybe not the majority but not too far from it either, believe that Indians 'take away' American jobs and our success in America was unfairly earned."
The tech entrepreneur, jolted by the recent uptick in the "anti-Indians" sentiment, predicted a grim future and noted things will not change after the elections either.
In a Truth Social post, Trump recently described countries like India and China as “hellholes” while criticising U.S. birthright citizenship and immigration. The post also echoed claims about Indians dominating parts of the U.S. tech workforce, adding to the backlash.
Vembu distanced himself from both the left and the right and claimed that Indian Americans will not benefit from either side.
He claimed, "Your choice would be between people who hate our Bharatiya civilization and people who hate civilization itself. That is the 'hard right' vs. 'woke left' battle. You are mere bystanders to that conflict."
Appealing to the collective conscience of Indians living outside India, Vembu continued, "There is one thing that is true now and will be true in the future: The respect Indians command worldwide will substantially depend on the fortunes of India herself."
He added, "If India remains poor, the woke left will give us moral lectures with pity and the hard right, different moral lectures with scorn ('hellhole'), and we must not confuse either with respect."
Vembu noted that India's success depends on its technological prowess. He added that "India produces sufficient brainpower to achieve that prowess" and contrasted this production with the reality of a "brain drain," which results in that talent being exported,
He asserted, "As we develop that prowess in India, our civilizational strength will assert itself."
He concluded his letter appealing, "As difficult as it is for many of you to contemplate this, please come back home. Bharat Mata needs your talent. Our vast youthful population needs the technology leadership you gained over the years to guide them toward prosperity. Let's do it with a missionary zeal."
This is not the first time Vembu has urged Indians living abroad to return, Vembu previously made similar appeals during heightened discussions on brain drain and H-1B visa issues.
He even compared such migration to soil erosion and claimed that it weakens the nation's ability to build technological capabilities.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
Related
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login