‘Called a Neo-Nazi supporter’: Indian student alleges hate campaign in UK for supporting ‘Modi, Bharat’

Indian student Satyam Surana has alleged that hate and smear campaigns were carried out against him during the student union elections while he was pursuing education at the London School of Economics this year.

Surana came into the spotlight after he picked up the national flag from the road and defied the attack by extremists at the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom last year.

Surana said that just 12 hours before the voting was about to start, someone launched a very ‘well-planned’ campaign targetting him. He added that in the campaign he was called a ‘fascist’ and linked with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Indian student, who hails from Pune, practised at the Bombay High Court for some months and has been pursuing an LLM at the London School of Economics.

Indian national killed, two others injured in ‘terror attack’ in northern Israel

Posts used with a malicious agenda to call me a “fascist”: Surana

Speaking about the complete set of incidents, the Indian student said that the LSE elections were announced in February and early March. He had filed his nomination for the post of general secretary.

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

“On March 17 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, transphobe’. The messages were so seditious and contentious of the Indian government and the current establishment,” he said.

He further alleged that screenshots of his posts on X were taken by radical elements, in which he had appreciated the BJP government, and added that those screenshots were used with a malicious agenda to call him a “fascist”.

He added that no political points were added to his manifesto which just contained the genuine issues on campus. Although he initially received overwhelming support, the 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 for a grievance redressal portal, having subsidised food on campus. We were getting support and people were saying that they would vote for me,” said Satyam.

“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 said.

What’s behind Indian student deaths in the US?

Targeted for calling Khalistanis ‘terrorists’, alleges Indian student

Surana further said that he also faced flak after he called 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 are entirely my opinion,” Surana said.

“I was called a Neo-Nazi supporter, Right Wing, out of campus. See, when the message heading was circulated as the right wing out of campus, it is very clear that the campaign was dictated and planned by the left wing,” he added.

He further claimed that those targetting him are not able to digest the development and success of India under the leadership of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The people of the international community are not aware of what is going on in India. Every international person is looking up to India and looking up to the current Prime Minister as a stalwart legendary politician. Our Prime Minister has the highest approval rating in the entire world, we have shown what we can do during COVID-19, and we are emerging as the third-largest economy. But, sadly these groups who can’t digest this fact are spreading not misinformation, but disinformation,” he said.