Indian-origin businessman Sabeer Bhatia defends his 'insensitive' comments about Air India crash; says it's 'outpouring of fake emotions'

Indian-origin businessman Sabeer Bhatia who recently mocked the Indian economy mocked people mourning over the Air India crash in Ahmedabad and said it was an "outpouring of fake emotions".

In a series of X posts all of which have gone viral, Bhatia asked for accountability of the crash and defended his words which social media users calls insensitive at the time of grieving. "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," Bhatia posted. Social media users reminded him that there have been 55 deadly plane crashes in the US in 2025 alone to which Bhatia retorted that US has a greater number of flights as well.

"Sabeer wants the attention he has lost. He wants to remind the world that he still exists," one wrote. "Vulture spotted," another wrote. Interestingly, Bhatia engaged with all comments and even ran a poll on whether he should take an Air India flight or not. "Of course I’m deeply saddened and devastated by the loss of life. But that distracts from the real question: Why did it happen and what can we do as a society to prevent it from ever happening again?" he wrote.

"In all the angry replies I’m getting, people are responding as if their own families were on the plane. Telling me to put my phone down. So much hate, so much emotion. Where’s the logic? Do you really go through life like it’s a Bollywood movie?" Bhatia wrote. "The right words aren’t “devastated” or “pained by the tragic loss” — those center the speaker. Say instead: “The families of the victims are in our thoughts and prayers.”

It’s about them, not you," he added. "In the past few days of vitriolic backlash, I keep hearing the term “colonial mindset” — as if the West looks down on India. That’s simply untrue. What shocks people in the West isn’t India — it’s the poor decisions of its leaders. If anything, that is the real colonial hangover," he said.