Karan Sangwan's Controversial Video
The controversy began when Karan Sangwan, during a lecture, appealed to students not to elect uneducated individuals to positions of power and instead vote for literate candidates in the upcoming elections. He emphasized not voting for those who solely focus on changing names. His remarks escalated to highlighting the importance of casting educated votes to avoid facing similar challenges in the future. After the video went viral, Karan was removed from Unacademy. Unacademy co-founder, Roman Saini, stated that Sangwan was removed for breaching rules. In a statement tweeted on Thursday night, Saini said, "The classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence students. In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct."
The Termination Debate: Corporate Ethics vs. Personal Expression
An important question in this situation is whether Unacademy was justified in terminating Karan Sangwan. The distinction between working for a corporate entity and functioning independently plays a vital role in answering this question.
Unacademy's decision to take action under the code of conduct aligns with corporate ethics. Professional boundaries were crossed. However, this raises concerns about the lack of alternative solutions, such as a mentoring program, before resorting to such severe measures.
The Political Angle: Who Gains and Who Loses?
In this entire controversy, those influencers and politicians who are circulating it on the internet to gain popularity or political benefits are profiting from the scenario. On the other hand, the students who are studying under Karan have to face the consequences without any mistakes.
Ideally, there should be a buffer when dealing with teacher terminations, which can safeguard both students' interests and teachers' rights. Teachers should also exercise more caution when expressing their opinions about politics, especially within platforms governed by a corporate structure.
