‘No substantial step forward being taken’: Indian student who faced hate campaign in London

LONDON: Satyam Surana, an Indian student in the UK who alleged hate and smear campaigns against him during the college elections in London for having pro-government views, said that despite six months having passed, no substantial step has been taken in the case.

He said that numerous complaints were filed from his end, however, no substantial action was taken regarding the same.

“Earlier this year, in March, I had to undergo something that no Indian student in a foreign land should undergo. I faced death threats. I faced harassment. I faced bullying by the global anti-India and the anti-Modi propagandist syndicate here. After that, I complained to the institution. I filed various complaints with various authorities, including the government of India and, most importantly, the London School of Economics, where I face all this. But to my surprise and to my sadness, all the promises that the university made to me have not yet been fulfilled”, Surana said.

As I start a new Journey tomorrow, back to where I belong- Bharat; my appeal to @LSEnews to deliver Justice.

My appeal to Hindu & Bhartiya Students to be proud about their identity and culture in foreign lands. We must free Western Academic Institutions from the LEFTs clutches.… pic.twitter.com/z4jKPj0nY6

— Satyam Surana (@SatyamSurana) September 10, 2024

Surana, who came to the limelight for bravely retrieving the Tricolour amidst an attack on the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom by extremists last year, had previously voiced out against alleged hate and smear campaigns targeted at him during this year’s student union elections at the London School of Economics.

“It has been a matter of six months that everything has passed. There has been no substantial action against any of the students. I have been called again and again by the university for hearings. I have been made to undergo all the trauma again by narrating all the incidents. And neither have I seen any action. Neither have I seen any sort of a substantial step forward being taken in the case”, the Indian student said.

“At the same time, it makes me frightful as to how new Indian students who are coming into these foreign lands are easily made targets of this global Hindu phobic and the India phobic propagandist groups. And new students who are proud and vocal for always for India’s interest and India’s national interests are being easily targeted are being made soft targets. And there is being no action taken against the perpetrators of such acts. This exposes the amount of impact that the global leftist agenda has on higher educational institutions”, he added.

Satyam had earlier claimed that, mere hours before voting commenced, a very ‘well-planned’ campaign was initiated against him. He asserts that this campaign sought to associate him with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and labelled him a ‘fascist,’ with the apparent intention of inciting a boycott against him and his electoral bid.

The Pune-born student has also practiced at the Bombay High Court for some months and was pursuing an LLM at the London School of Economics, with his course ending later this year.

Elaborating on the whole set of incidents, he had said that the LSE elections were declared in February and early March and he filed the nomination for the post of general secretary.

“From March 14 to 15, we noticed that my posters were being ripped off, torn. We complained to the authorities. After we replaced our posters, on the 16th, we saw that some posters were defaced. There were crosses on my face, it was written ‘anyone but Satyam’. I was cancelled out”, Satyam said.

“On the 17th afternoon, there were messages in all groups of LSE. Indian groups, law school groups. The messages claimed, ‘This Satyam Surana is a BJP supporter, he is a fascist person, an Islamophobe, a transphobe’. The messages were so seditious and contentious of the Indian government and the current establishment”, he added.

Satyam alleged that the radical elements also screenshotted his posts on social media handle X, where he had merely praised the BJP government, but his posts were used with a malicious agenda to call him a ‘fascist’. He also said that his manifesto had no political points but merely contained the genuine issues on campus. Even though he initially got overwhelming support, this hate campaign derailed his chances.

“With my entire team, I went through the entire campus. We were reaching out across departments and explaining our policies. I had a very well-written and well-drafted manifesto, which was not at all political. It said how things need improvement at LSE, how there is a need of a grievance redressal portal, having subsidised food on campus. We were getting support and people were saying that they would vote for me,” Satyam said.

“But, out of the three people, it was only me who was targeted randomly. When these messages started coming, my entire team was shocked, we were in a dilemma, and the entire moral conscience of the team was shattered”, he added. (ANI)