Sabeer Bhatia letter highlights the tragic killing of 24-year-old Anjel Chakma, an MBA student from Tripura, in Dehradun
NEW DELHI — Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail, has penned an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing deep concern over rising racism and identity-based violence in India, including attacks on people from the North-East and minorities such as Muslims, Dalits and Christians.
Bhatia’s letter highlights the tragic death of 24-year-old Anjel Chakma, an MBA student from Tripura, who was killed in Dehradun following a racially motivated altercation, media reports said on Saturday.
Bhatia describes this incident as “a tragedy for India’s soul,” emphasising that Chakma lost his life “solely because he looked different”. As an Indian who has represented the country globally for over three decades, Bhatia stresses that people from the North-East face long-standing stereotyping and racism, despite being “100% Indian in identity, history and sentiment”.
Bhatia argues that Chakma’s death isn’t an isolated incident, but rather a reflection of a deeper social issue requiring urgent national attention.
In the letter, Bhatia also flagged what he described as a sharp rise in violence against Dalits, Muslims and Christians in recent months. He said that hate-driven attacks on any community amount to an assault on the idea of India itself. “Whether the victim is from the North-East, a Dalit, a Muslim, a Christian, or any other community, the message must be loud and clear: communal hatred is wrong, racism is wrong, and targeting people because of their identity must stop,” he wrote.
Emphasising India’s diversity, Bhatia said the country’s strength lies in the fact that 1.4 billion people with different languages, cultures and faiths share a single national identity. He warned that if diversity becomes a trigger for violence, India risks losing its core values.
Bhatia urged the prime minister to take a series of steps, including making a clear national statement condemning racism and communal violence, ensuring a transparent and time-bound investigation into Anjel Chakma’s death, launching a nationwide sensitisation programme to address inter-community hatred, and strengthening legal protections against hate crimes.
“No parent in India, whether in Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala or Nagaland should fear for their child’s life because of their identity,” he wrote, adding that such fears have no place in a country aspiring to global leadership.
Concluding the letter, Bhatia said he could not remain silent as an Indian and a technologist who has spent his life building tools to connect people, while society risks drifting away from compassion and unity. He expressed hope that under the Prime Minister’s leadership, the country would confront the issue with “honesty and courage” so that Anjel Chakma’s death becomes a turning point for justice and social reform.
