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‘Who Harassed Poonawalla?’ SII Chief’s Claims Stir Twitter Storm

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.

Updated
India
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After Serum Institute of India (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla alleged in an interview that he was receiving threats in India – which forced him and his family to leave the country for London – journalists and politicians took to Twitter to express their disappointment.

Amongst politicians who reacted were those from the Indian National Congress and the Shiv Sena.

When asked about the impact of the Kumbh Mela and the Assembly elections on the second COVID wave in India, Poonawalla, in the explosive interview to The Times in London, said that his “head would be chopped off” if he answered on such a “sensitive” matter.

“The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming. Everyone feels they should get the vaccine. They can’t understand why someone else should get it before them.”
Adar Poonawalla to The Times
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News of Poonawalla Fleeing to UK ‘Shameful’

“News of Adar Poonawala fleeing to UK bcoz of death threat SHAMEFUL, we don’t deserve anything, we're small-minded people I've seen journalist, academics, economists, even businessmen say he earns a profit at 150, so cut prices! We need to increase production, find new cures for new strains (sic),” Sunil Jain, Managing Editor at The Financial Express, tweeted.

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.
He added that, ideally, Poonawala and Bharat Biotech should stop production and pay the gyanis (the know-it-alls) Rs 150 per shot to produce the vaccine. “India has no future because it has shrunk from what it was. It is a small-minded communal country now and we are all to blame,” he wrote.

CEO of The Ken, journalist and entrepreneur Rohin Dharmakumar put out a series of tweets. He said that Poonawalla’s answers were revealing and his courage ‘must be admired.’

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.
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Political commentator and columnist Sunanda Vashisht said it was time to reflect why he was mocked as a profiteer. “Why are entrepreneurs harassed so much?” she asked.

Retired civil servant Jawhar Sircar asked the government why they could not protect its ‘saviour’?

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.
‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.
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Poonawalla Misplaced Target of Attack: Shiv Sena

Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said it was sad that he had been made the “misplaced target of attack” when “no price quoted is decided without GoI approval”.

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.

Cong Asks Who Is Pressuring Poonawalla?

Congress member and national coordinator of digital communication Gaurav Pandhi speculated if Poonawalla was being pressured by the PMO and the BJP.

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.

Former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha urged Poonawalla to come to the fore and name the ‘powerful people’ who had been making threatening calls to him.

‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.
‘The level of expectation and aggression is really unprecedented. It’s overwhelming,’ Adar Poonawala told The Times.

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