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Survey Reveals How Executives Are Embracing — And Bracing For — AI
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Survey Reveals How Executives Are Embracing — And Bracing For — AI
A deep dive into Khan Sir’s legal battle with TV Today, the weaponization of identity, and the high cost of challenging mainstream media narratives in India.
In the crowded, narrow lanes of Musallahpur, Patna, an educational empire was quietly built on a foundation of cheap ink, grit, and massive ambition. In 2010, Khan Sir (Faisal Khan)-popularly known to millions as “Khan Sir”-established a coaching center.
In those early days, he reportedly put up promotional posters himself, working from the ground up.As enrollment increased, eventually reaching around 2,000 students, he expanded the classroom experience by installing multiple television screens to accommodate larger audiences who could not fit into a single room.
His biggest breakthrough came in 2019 with the launch of his YouTube channel. The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdowns accelerated his popularity, attracting millions of students to his online classes. By 2021, he had launched the Khan Global Studies (KGS) app, expanding the venture into a private limited company.
Today, that empire finds itself caught in the crosshairs of a socio-political storm that reveals a much larger, darker reality about contemporary India.
The core friction began where true social impact usually does: pricing. Khan Sir shook the commercial coaching industry by offering high-quality competitive exam preparation at incredibly low fees.
The underlying tension within the coaching ecosystem revolves around a singular argument: “Why are you teaching at such low fees that it results in massive student success?”
The pressure from competing institutes has even led to appeals to the administration, citing security concerns due to the sheer volume of students gathered in one place. But the foundational philosophy remains unyielding: every student, regardless of economic background, has the right to study.
The pressure from competing institutes has even led to appeals to the administration, citing security concerns due to the sheer volume of students gathered in one place. But the foundational philosophy remains unyielding: every student, regardless of economic background, has the right to study.
The ongoing friction between major coaching institutes has shifted the focus entirely away from actual learning. Instead of prioritizing student welfare, education in India has increasingly devolved into corporate warfare and institutional rivalries.
The underlying crisis, however, lies within the mainstream media. The same digital creator who was universally celebrated as “Khan Sir” is suddenly being systematically stripped of his secular moniker by sections of the media and public discourse, reduced strictly to his birth name, Faisal Khan.
In a landscape heavily fractured by identity politics, a predictable narrative has emerged. The youth, influenced by polarized media coverage and political rhetoric, have taken to social media with hostile narratives, chanting slogans like “Khan go back” and “Khan will have to leave Bihar.”
Despite this, mainstream news coverage has shifted away from his educational and social contributions, focusing heavily on polarizing identity narratives.
The current situation mirrors the chilling words of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who famously noted:
There is freedom of speech. But I cannot guarantee freedom after the speech.
Ugandan dictator Idi Amin
This dynamic is becoming increasingly visible in India’s public sphere. If an individual speaks in favor of the government, or chooses not to criticize it, they enjoy complete freedom of expression. Under that umbrella, misinformation or inflammatory rhetoric often passes without consequence. However, the moment an individual raises difficult questions against the system, that guarantee of safety vanishes.
Khan Sir’s recent trajectory serves as a stark example. Not long ago, mainstream media outlets held him in high regard, conducting numerous interviews and inviting him to prime-time panels. Even political IT cells favored him, largely because he possessed qualities that fit a specific, idealized narrative—frequently keeping the peace, and at times even participating in cultural humor that appealed to the majority.
But the system demands total conformity. The moment you show the system its own reflection, it moves to crush the dissent.
The tipping point arrived when high-profile news anchor Anjana Om Kashyap delivered a harsh critique aimed at the country’s “star educators,” labeling them as the new “education mafia.”
While Khan Sir was not explicitly named in the initial broadcast, he, alongside several prominent educational YouTubers, launched a full-blown counterattack. The retaliation was direct and scathing, with statements pointing out that if teachers are valued at pennies (kaudi), then journalists who operate solely on TRPs and come to debates unprepared are worth even less (footi kaudi).
The corporate response was swift. Anjana Om Kashyap and TV Today jointly slapped a ₹2 crore defamation suit against Khan Sir.
| Party A | Party B | Action | Context |
| TV Today and Anjana Om Kashyap | Khan Sir (Faisal Khan) | ₹2 Crore Defamation Lawsuit | Retaliation against Khan Sir’s public criticism of mainstream media TRP tactics. |
The BMW M440i xDrive Convertible.
Khan Sir, deeply versed in teaching history lessons, may have momentarily forgotten a fundamental truth about the current landscape: India’s public square is changing.
You can offer low-cost tuition, build hospitals with your own money, or try to blend into the mainstream narrative by making compromises. But the rules of the game are absolute.
The moment an independent voice turns around and challenges the mainstream media machinery or the ruling establishment, the platform that built them up can be dismantled just as quickly.
The ongoing legal and media trial of Faisal Khan is no longer just about a coaching center in Patna—it is a live case study of what happens when a popular figure dares to talk back to the mirror.
! Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, author & keynote speaker.
Covers Middle East geopolitics, oil markets, and regional conflicts with a balanced and research-driven approach.
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