A recent tweet by Elon Musk drew Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma and author Rajiv Malhotra against each other over Harvard funding. Vijay Shekhar Sharma had to face the heat of the Indian-born American Hindu nationalist author after he backed Elon Musk’s tweet showing the drawbacks of bypassing meritocracy in the name of equality and diversity.
The X owner retweeted a video from The Matt Walsh discussing fraudulent DEI hire linking it to the recent Alaska Airlines mishap. While sharing the video, Musk wrote, “Merit should be the only reason for hiring, especially for jobs where your family’s lives are at stake.”
Supporting the Elon Musk’s opinion, the Paytm founder commented “100″ on his X post. However, Vijay Shekhar’s action drew sharp criticism from Rajiv Malhotra who accused him of contradicting his own actions by backing Musk’s opinion on merit.
In another tweet, Rajeev Malhotra shared Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s old video in which he could be seen talking about giving a gift to the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute. According to its website, the institute is “ involved in interdisciplinary research to advance and deepen the understanding of critical issues of South Asia and its relationship to the world”. In his tweet, Malhotra also accused Vijay Shekhar of “feeding the Harward snakes”.
While sharing Sharma’s tweet, Malhotra wrote, “Deshbhakti is a facade. @vijayshekhar also feeds the Harvard Snakes. In 2020, the head of Paytm, (the digital payment system), Vijay Shekhar Sharma also joined the elite group of Indian billionaires and donated an undisclosed sum of money to support the activities and research performed by The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute. The Lakshmi Mittal & Family South Asia Institute has an inordinately high interest in India’s minorities & is also known for its support to radical Muslim narrative on Kashmir and other parts of India.”
In response to Malhotra’s accusations, Vijay Shekhar Sharma wrote, “Not true information, sir. No such donation.”
In another post, the Snakes of India writer, informed his followers about having a telephonic conversation with Vijay Shekhar Sharma, where he clarified that he didn’t make any such donations to Harvard University.
“He has assured me that though he did sign the agreement with Harvard, he has not yet sent them any money, and will not do so. This is good news. I am glad he is on our side. I told him about the Woke anti-meritocracy gang of Marxists. How they have roped in Khalistanis, Kashmir separatists, Dalit extremists and various others to undermine India. He is himself a product of meritocracy. I want to encourage more Indian billionaires to please stand by our Bharat at this time,” he wrote on X.