An Indian tutor was fired by an ed-tech company for urging his students to “vote for educated candidates” in elections, sparking widespread condemnation in the country.
Karan Sangwan was employed by Unacademy, a popular ed-tech platform.
He had posted a video in which he asked his students to vote for an educated person who can “understand things, instead of voting for a person who only knows how to change things or change names”.
He allegedly made the remarks while discussing the government’s proposal to introduce three new bills to replace the country’s criminal justice system based on British colonial-era legislation.
While Mr Sangwan did not name a specific politician, many assumed it was an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has been on a spree changing British and Mughal-named landmarks to Hindu ones.
As the news of the sacking went viral on social media, Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini on Thursday said Mr Sangwan was fired because he breached the terms of his contract, adding that a “classroom was not a place to share personal views”.
"To do this we have in place a strict code of conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge. Our learners are at the centre of everything we do,” Mr Sainia said on X, formerly Twitter.
“The classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence them. In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the code of conduct.”
Many political leaders are backing Mr Sangwan and criticised the ed-tech company for being "spineless".
Supriya Shrinate, a Congress representative, said it was sad to see “spineless people run education platforms”, while sharing an image of Gaurav Munjal, the co-founder of the platform with Mr Modi.
"Is it a crime to appeal to educated people to vote? If someone is illiterate, personally I respect him. But people's representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of the 21st century," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
Mr Sangwan has not commented on his sacking yet but has decided to share his views on the controversy on his Youtube channel Legal Pathshala, a platform for legal studies, tomorrow.
"[For] the past few days a video has been going viral due to which I have landed in controversy and, because of this, several students who are preparing for judicial services examinations are facing a lot of consequences. Along with them, I have to also face consequences," Mr Sangwan said in a video.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
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Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
