A sharp exchange unfolded between Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia and billionaire Harsh Goenka recently over the use of the term ‘anti-national’. On July 31, 2025, Sabeer Bhatia shared a post criticizing the labeling of truth-telling as “anti-national” in India. “Say India is unsafe for women – you’re anti-national. Question inflated economic numbers – you’re anti-national. Call out elected leaders’ lies – you’re anti-national. Mention lost aircraft – you’re anti-national. So if truth = anti-national… then who’s a national? The one who lies to you?,” Bhatia wrote in an X post.Now, Harsha Goenka has responded sharply to Bhatia’s post, saying “India doesn’t need sermons from those who packed up and left,” questioning his right to comment from abroad. “Living in California and lecturing a billion Indians back home? We live here. We vote, work, pay taxes. We love this country- and we’ll fix what’s broken. India doesn’t need sermons from those who packed up and left,” Goenka replied to Sabeer Bhatia.Bhatia has, in recent months, stirred debates on social media with his post criticizing India, including the country’s education system and it’s economic growth. In a post dated June 10, Sabeer Bhatia wrote on X: “Instead of hanging your head in shame that 415 million people in India survive on $3.10/day [approx. Rs 265/day], you brag about being the world’s 4th largest economy. Shame on you.”In an NNP podcast interview earlier this year, Bhatia said that instead of creating original thinkers, India is producing an “army of useless kids” who only know how to follow orders. “We live in a conformist society—people are often told, ‘Listen to others, do what they say’,” Bhatia then said, further adding “But why follow a path that’s already been walked?”. During the interview, Bhatia said that the Indian education system is wired to produce workers who take ‘orders’ instead of creating ‘visionaries’ with the ability to disrupt systems.