An old video of former Unacademy tutor Karan Sangwan reciting a motivational poem for candidates appearing for the Haryana Assistant District Attorney examinations is viral with the false claiming that it is his response to the ed-tech firm for sacking him.
On August 13, 2023, a video of Sangwan went viral where he is seen discussing the recent bill tabled in Lok Sabha by the central government to replace existing criminal laws followed in the country. Sangwan in his online lecture complains that following the recent bill tabled by the government, all the notes he had prepared on criminal law (for the students) are now worthless with the name change. He goes on to add, "Remember one thing, the next time you vote, choose an educated candidate so that you do not have to suffer all this again in life, do not vote for someone who only knows how to change names."
The video of Sangwan was criticised by several pro-government accounts alleging that he was targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite the fact that he does not specifically mention any political party or leader. Following the viral video, Unacademy on August 17, 2023, terminated Sangwan's contract, with co-founder Roman Saini posting that the educator's comments violated the company’s code of conduct.
The viral video of Sangwan reciting a poem is being shared on the back of this controversy with posts claiming that the poem about life is his reply to the ruling BJP and his former employer Unacademy.
In the viral video, Sangwan is heard reciting a poem, "O life, I have seen your status, you see my courage, I am standing in front of you even after falling a hundred times, now you see my passion." This 18 seconds video is being shared on social media claiming that it is his response after being fired.
The video is being shared with the caption, "Karan Sangwan's reply to BJP and Unacademy."
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The same video was also being shared on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) with the misleading claim.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is from July 28, 2023, posted by Karan Sangwan on his YouTube channel before the Haryana Assistant District Attorney examinations which were held on July 30, 2023. The couplet was intended to motivate the students appearing for the exam.
The 35 seconds video was posted by Sangwan with the caption below the heading, "Haryana ADA exam. Join Haryana ADA Batch ( use code - Karansir10)". A the end of the video, Sangwan refers to the exams saying, "You have to show this passion on July 30." This part has been edited out of the viral video to make the false claim.
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This video predates Sangwan's video from August 13, 2023, in which he advises his students not to vote for uneducated leaders, and is before he was fired on August 17, 2023.
Sangwan had posted a response on August 17, 2023, stating he would be addressing the controversy and the subsequent consequences he faced in a separate video live on August 19, 2023.
In his August 19, 2023 live, Sangwan address the controversy claiming that his statement was not political.
Sangwan also refers to the video of him reciting a poem going viral and clarifies that it is an old video from July 2023 dismissing the claim that it was his recent response after the controversy broke out.
At the 35 minutes timestamp this can be seen.