Mumbai entrepreneur says Dubai at war is ‘far safer’ than India, gets trolled: ‘Joke is on us’

The comments came as regional tensions escalated after US–Israeli military operations against Iran prompted retaliatory strikes. (Representational image)

A Mumbai‑based entrepreneur has triggered a heated debate on X after claiming that even amid Iranian missile strikes and airspace shutdowns, the UAE remained “far safer than India”.

"Even with all this bombing in the UAE, it’s far more safer than India. Total casualty in the UAE is just 1 today," Ankit Sawant wrote. "Yesterday, in Mumbai, a cab driver died because a 40-ton weight dropped on his car, crushing him. You can make all the jokes on them, but the real joke is on us."

His comments came as regional tensions escalated after US–Israeli military operations against Iran prompted retaliatory strikes. Dubai and Abu Dhabi temporarily closed airspace following Iranian attacks targeting US military sites in the Gulf. This escalation disrupted flights and rattled the region’s reputation as a secure hub.

Sawant's post received nearly six lakh views.

But critics quickly pushed back. One X user told him to “stop harping about problems” and focus on solutions, prompting Sawant to respond that his own family’s generational rise — from his grandfather “starting from chawl” to him founding a company — was proof that he was not complaining but demanding accountability.

‘Asking accountability isn’t wrong’

Sawant clarified that he had left a well‑paying job in Dubai to return to India and build a startup. He said that whenever systemic failures are discussed, people rush to label critics as “anti‑national”. He added that he votes for the BJP because “the other option is worse”, but insists that his vote gives him the right to question governance.

Another user argued that India faces a fundamentally different threat landscape — including repeated drone attacks, missile risks, and border hostilities — unlike the UAE, which was collateral in Iran’s retaliation. Sawant said his comparison was meant only to define “what safety means”, stressing that government negligence at home causes more deaths than terror attacks, even if these deaths are forgotten because they occur in isolation.

War, governance, and accidental deaths

A third user accused Sawant of having “no right to comment” if he was settled abroad. Sawant countered that he is based in Mumbai and noted that his colleagues in Jammu during India‑Pakistan tensions faced greater distress than friends currently in Dubai.

A fourth user said comparing the UAE war‑zone risks with Indian accidents was flawed. Sawant replied that operations like Op Sindoor saw far higher civilian deaths than the UAE’s current toll, and that the tragedies in Mulund, Delhi, and Mumbai were avoidable — the kind of fatalities prevented in the UAE due to strict enforcement.