Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola Cabs, has sparked online backlash after his controversial remarks on non-binary gender pronouns, which he termed a “western illness”.
It all started when Aggarwal shared a screenshot on his X account of the LinkedIn AI bot referring to him as ‘they/them’, in reply to his question “Who is Bhavish Aggarwal?” He expressed his dissatisfaction with the same and wrote “Hoping this ‘pronoun illness’ doesn’t reach India’. He urged people to draw a line in following “the west blindly” and said “better to send this illness back where it came from”.
Hoping that this “pronoun illness” doesn’t reach India.
Many “big city schools” in India are now teaching it to kids. Also see many CVs with pronouns these days. Need to know where to draw the line in following the west blindly! pic.twitter.com/q4CwiV6dkE
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) May 5, 2024
The 38-year-old entrepreneur’s remarks provoked a heated online debate. Since being shared on Monday, it has garnered significant traction with the comment section flooded with reactions. While some wholeheartedly agreed with him, others disagreed, deeming his rhetoric “homophobic” and advocating for the need for gender pronouns.
Standup comedian Varun Grover commented on Aggarwal’s post and wrote, “You can change your bio to ‘Stuck in the past at Ola.'”
“I disagree with you here. This doesn’t hurt anyone and do you really think having pronouns on CVs would impact your decision to hire an individual?” an X user questioned.
Taking a jibe at the CEO’s belief that gender pronouns are a western construct, another user remarked, “But sir your whole business model relies on making a desi version of a western startup (Uber).”
‘”Better to send this illness back where it came from” is also the most popular Ola scooter review,” another user added.
“Respecting pronouns is a basic act of decency, not an illness. Using someone’s correct pronouns is the bare minimum, to respect LGBTQ+ folks. You’re tweeting this just a month before Pride Month is celebrated and I’d suggest you take this time to follow thought queer leaders in India to understand their journey, struggles and needs. If you’d like a few recommendations to some individuals, organisations and workshop facilitators doing the important work of LGBTQ+ advocacy and education, hit me up,” a user commented.
For those who are unfamiliar, gender pronouns like “he/him/his”, “she/her/hers,” and “they/them/theirs,” are the set of pronouns that individuals use to reflect their own gender identity.
