New Delhi: It has now become the talk of people and tabloids across social media, TV, and now, in the court of law, against popular educator Khan Sir, who is one of India’s most popular online teachers. The debate surrounding the educator has now moved to his legal issues and controversial defamation suit with a senior journalist named Anjana Om Kashyap and on his true identity rather than his pedagogy or educational output of this past week.
For years, hundreds of thousands of students will recognize the teacher from Patna as “Khan Sir”. His friendly approach with the students and low charges for his coaching classes enabled him to gain a huge fan base all across India. In the meantime the recent controversy has brought his real name, Faisal Khan, to the fore which has been much used in news and legal proceedings.
The feud started when there was a public debate over the education sector and increasing influence of Online Teachers. Coaching culture and NEET examination system were some of the subjects featured in the discussion that brought Anjana Om Kashyap into conflict with some online educators, who she characterized as “content creators” who prioritize views and popularity. These statements brought recruits, particularly from several teachers and teachers’ allies, to the outside world. These statements stimulated reaction from a number of educators, and their supporters.
I can respond publicly to Khan Sir and make critical comments about Kashyap and media organisations, allegedly Kashyap and the TV Today Network allege that Khan Sir made a number of statements which were defamatory and hurt their business reputation. According to the lawsuit, participants of the attack spread offensive comments online and a coordinated campaign was launched against the journalist.
The furore created led to a civil defamation case has being filed in the Delhi High Court by Anjana Om Kashyap and TV Today Network. The plaintiffs have demanded ₹2 crore for damages and asked the social media sites to remove allegedly defamatory content. The case will be important, looking to set the rules on criticism versus defamation in the comments.
One of the other issues being raised in the lawsuit is privacy. During the controversy, personal information about Kashyap’s family, which touches her child, according to court documents, was shared online, too. According to the plaintiffs, “these actions put their family at risk of violating the right to privacy and family safety.
Presently, Khan Sir was up against another problem in Bihar as the legal controversies continued. The coaching school in Patna was said to be attacked and vandalised by an unknown party. Video of the incident went viral and attracted a huge amount of attention. In another incident related to the coaching center, a ‘Fire’ case was reported shortly thereafter, resulting in the registration of an FIR against Faisal Khan. The incident is under investigation and a court action is in progress.
These legal cases have spurred many media businesses to use the official name for the educator, “Faisal Khan” instead of his more popular nick-name of “Khan Sir”. This has led to his true identity being a big discussion topic over social media. Backers say they are sidetracked from learning concerns, while opponents claim social media personalities should be responsible for what they say and do.
The controversy also brought the heated debate between those students and teachers of traditional units and the influential digital teaching units to the fore. Educators such as Khan Sir have a reach that is now like that of big TV networks as their millions of followers are online. The verdict in the Delhi High Court case may prove to be a landmark precedent in the future for the resolution of such conflicts between media personalities and online influencers.
For the time being, it is pending in the courts. While the legal proceedings are pending the claims of both sides are not fully explored and judged by the judiciary yet. There will almost certainly be more developments in a controversy that has garnered national attention in the coming weeks.
