Shreya Varanasi, Pune
The Ed-tech platform Unacademy is currently facing flak for its decision to sack its employee, Karan Sangwan, for his “vote for educated” candidate remark in the now-viral video. Several politicians, including Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, have reacted and condemned this controversial move by the ed-tech major.
In the controversial video that went viral on social media, Karan Sangwan was heard asking students to vote for educated candidates and not those who focus on changing names. Reacting to this viral video, Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini issued a clarification on the company’s decision and stated that the classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views. He further said that Karan Sangwan was in breach of the Code of Conduct that the company had in place, hence, leading them to part ways.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was one of the many political leaders who reacted to the news of Sangwan’s sacking. Taking to Platform X, Kejriwal asked if it was a crime to appeal to voters to vote for educated candidates. He further said that people’s representatives can’t be illiterate, and illiterate people cannot build modern India in the 21st century.
Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi asked whether appealing to vote for literate candidates is a biased opinion and called it a repeat of Kajol level trolling. Y. Satish Reddy of Bharat Rashtra Samithi called the decision ‘inappropriate’ and said that the employee is liable for a proper explanation.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also condemned the move and said it was “sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform.” Meanwhile, a Senior advocate at the Supreme Court, Sanjay Hedge, compared Sangwan’s sacking to the Ashoka University row. He called these platforms, both Unacademy and Ashoka University, “government-approved theka trafficking in knowledge.”
Earlier this month, an assistant professor at Ashoka University, Sabyasachi Das, had to resign after his research paper was embroiled in controversy. The paper argued that the BJP had won a disproportionate share of closely contested parliamentary seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Now, Karan Sangwan has started his own YouTube channel and revealed that he will speak about the details of the controversy on August 19.