A close look at world history reveals the seductive charm of fear and its sacrosanct role in establishing firm-footed monarchies. The 2021 Netflix series, How to Become a Tyrant, reaffirms this observation using a chock-full of examples. Take, for example, toothbrush-moustached Hitler, who forged a deep sense of connection and belonging in an angry, exasperated group to adulterate their heads against a concocted enemy. Or Saddam Husaain’s bloodthirsty killings of people in his close circle. Martha Nussbaum, an eminent American philosopher, in her book The Monarchy of Fear, writes that “[fear is] a trickster that lures people into believing that complicated problems have easy solutions, often convincing them that they can conquer their feelings of helplessness through scapegoating, revenge and exclusion.”
In a country like ours, one that prides itself on being the largest democracy, such fear-inducing incidents are aplenty. Perhaps, the grippings of fear are what drove the Unacademy team to sack their tutor Karan Sangwan after his clip — where he asked his students to vote for educated ministers — made rounds on social media.
Roman Saini, one of the co-founders of this educational technology company—that ventured into pre-medical and IIT-JEE coaching by offering an online mode, thus the comfort of home—took to Twitter to clarify the company’s action after a massive uproar. “In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct,” he wrote, stating politically polarised statements can have a detrimental impact on growing children.
Sangwan followed suit. In his multiple interviews, he clarified that only a snippet of his statement is getting viral. His statement was not particularly directed at any political party but was a general caution for his students to vote consciously and responsibly. The actual video has been deleted from YouTube, so one can’t attest to his statement. But he adds that the comments weren’t made on Unacademy’s official page — it was his personal YouTube channel.
There are a couple of things to consider here. Sangwan says that he wasn’t given any chance to present his case and was immediately terminated. According to labour laws, such immediate termination without giving a notice period of 30 days, is possible only in case of misconduct which includes but is not limited to, highly offensive behaviours, like making verbal and physical threats of violence, bullying, sexual harassment, and stalking. What would justify the company’s treatment of such a neutral, harmless-looking statement under these serious charges?
Let’s not ignore the fact that the main reason for the flourishing of coaching was the approachable teachers who were a click or tap away. Students admired teachers who would interact with them, share anecdotes, and console their’ anxious, palpitating hearts. In India’s coaching capital, Kota, which has reported a shocking number of 21 suicides this year so far, it’s inevitable for a teacher to slip up in an additional role—of a friend, a guardian, even a parent perhaps.
Moreover, what does Saini mean by “quality education” that his institution is committed to providing? Does the ambit of so-called quality education fall within the limited scope of lectures, notes, mini-tests, major tests and grand tests? Or does it also cover the set of experiences that might not directly help in clearing the exam, but have a tangential role to play (and perhaps, more importantly) in turning students resilient enough to face challenges that come their way?
This brings me to another question: Who is an educated minister? In a country whose population comprises only 6.7 per cent of graduates, it is unrealistic to think of an educated Cabinet. Each Cabinet has had a fair share of uneducated ministers. And even then, one can’t miss out on outliers. Let’s not forget that Iron Lady Indira Gandhi, still considered one of the best prime ministers, dropped out of Oxford after roughly a year. On the other hand, we have Mansukh Mandviya, who came into the limelight for his grossly fallacious and grammatically stilted tweets (let’s attribute it to his busy schedule) after being given the charge of the Health Ministry.
It is then, very strange, to witness Sangwan’s brutal social media trial when he didn’t take any names.
What happened to Sangwan is condemnable by any stretch of logic. The way a private, unicorn firm buckled under the pressure of social media users is scary. Interestingly, not even once did the government intervene. But then this is how fear persists as the silent perpetrator enjoys the show.
Gupta is a New Delhi-based writer and a medical student
