'They can't digest India's rise'; Indian student alleges hate campaign in London

ANI

London, March 27

Satyam Surana, the Indian student 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, is now speaking out against alleged hate and smear campaigns targeted at him during this year's student union elections at the London School of Economics.

Satyam has 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 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 practised at the Bombay High Court for some months and is pursuing an LLM at the London School of Economics, with his course ending later this year.

Elaborating on the whole set of incidents, he 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 told ANI.

"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.

Recalling the episode from the Indian High Commission last year, Satyam said, "Somewhere around early October, I was in the news because I picked up the national flag outside the Indian High Commission among the Khalistani protesters. I was blessed to receive media coverage. I was interviewed by national media channels." He further said that he was targeted for calling Khalistanis 'terrorists' in one of his posts.

"See, this is my country. I will always be an advocate for my country. How is Indian politics relevant to the student union elections in the UK? My views and endorsements of my government is entirely my opinion," Satyam added.

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