Sabeer Bhatia’s Comment On Air India Tragedy Draws Backlash On Internet; Check His Response

Authorities confirmed the death of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the crash. Remarkably, one passenger, 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survived

Tech entrepreneur and Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia

Source : LinkedIn

As India mourns the loss of 241 lives in one of its worst aviation disasters, tech entrepreneur and Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia has found himself at the center of a social media storm over a post deemed “insensitive” and “poorly timed” by netizens. The fatal crash occurred on Thursday when an Air India Dreamliner en route to London crashed minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad, slamming into a medical college hostel and triggering a devastating fire.

Authorities confirmed the death of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the crash. Remarkably, one passenger, 40-year-old British national Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survived and is currently receiving treatment in stable condition.

Sabeer Bhatia’s Post

In the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe, Bhatia took to platform X (formerly Twitter) and posted, “Do you really think the 4th largest economy in the world should still be having plane crashes due to systemic failures? Time to question what truly makes a nation great.”

The post quickly went viral, garnering millions of views and sparking a wave of criticism. Social media users slammed Bhatia for what they described as exploiting a national tragedy to make a political statement. Some questioned whether he had made similar remarks following recent aviation incidents in the United States.

Do you really think the 4th largest economy in the world should still be having plane crashes due to systemic failures? Time to question what truly makes a nation great.

— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 12, 2025

Widespread Criticism And Accusations Of Insensitivity

Comments poured in accusing Bhatia of lacking empathy. “Mr Bhatia, there have been 55 air crashes in the US in 2025. Do you think the top most economy in the world should still be having plane crashes due to systemic failures? Time to question what truly makes a nation great and why USA must be called so,” wrote one of the internet users.

Another user added, “Such an insensitive comment. Recently USA had one plane crash. Were you also insensitive during that time & passed such callous comments?”

Others took aim at the logic of his argument, pointing out that aviation mishaps occur globally and are not unique to India. 

Clarification Met With Continued Debate

Responding to the backlash, Bhatia later clarified his position, “Of course I’m deeply saddened and devastated by the loss of life... Why did it happen and what can we do as a society to prevent it from ever happening again?”

He defended the tone of his original message, saying criticism of systemic issues should not be misinterpreted as insensitivity toward victims. He added, “I am very sensitive to the people who died and very insensitive to the system that caused this to happen.”

Bhatia also addressed accusations of harboring a colonial mindset, stating, “What shocks people in the West isn’t India — it’s the poor decisions of its leaders.”