Muslims seem to be finding support for their rights from all quarters these days, and the latest direction it has come from is search giant Google, with its Indian-origin CEO Sundar Pichai on Saturday, 12 December writing an open letter on the issue that ends with the words: "We must support Muslim and other minority communities in the US and around the world."
Pichai is not the first high-profile corporate honcho to weigh in on the matter. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had on December 10 said Muslims are welcome on Facebook.
"As a Jew, my parents taught me that we must stand up against attacks on all communities. Even if an attack isn't against you today, in time attacks on freedom for anyone will hurt everyone," he had said back then.
The reactions came after businessman-turned-US presidential hopeful Donald Trump had, following the terror attacks, had said he would ban the entry of all Muslims in the US.
Since then, Trump and his statements have faced widespread condemnation and backlash. Some have even taken the humorous route to take on Trump's brand of politics and policies. For example, Florida Mayor Rick Kreisman said recently appropriated Trump's own rhetoric to say he was "barring Donald Trump from entering St Petersburg until we fully understand the dangerous threat posed by all Trumps".
Others, like Zuckerberg and Pichai, have taken a more sedate approach.
Pichai, in his open letter in Medium, wrote: "The open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance of new Americans is one of the country's greatest strengths and most defining characteristics. And that is no coincidence  —  America, after all, was and is a country of immigrants."
He went on to add: "That is why it's so disheartening to see the intolerant discourse playing out in the news these days  —  statements that our country would be a better place without the voices, ideas and the contributions of certain groups of people, based solely on where they come from, or their religion."
He also dwelt on how the US, being a "land of opportunities", was a great destination for migrants. Interestingly, his entire letter has only one mention of the word "Muslim", and that is in the last paragraph.
