Satyam Surana, an Indian student in the UK, has criticized what he calls a “biased” investigation into his allegations of hate campaigns and smears against him during college elections at the London School of Economics (LSE). Surana accused the institution of failing to address his complaints while claiming that major university campuses have been “hijacked” by left-wing ideologies, making them hostile to individuals with a “vocal Hindu and Indian identity.”
In an interview, Surana detailed his ordeal, alleging that despite providing “irrefutable evidence” to LSE authorities—including CCTV footage, screenshots of hate messages, and details of the accused—the university dismissed his complaints as “insufficient.” He claimed the university justified the remarks against him under the guise of “freedom of expression.”
Surana, who gained attention in 2023 for retrieving the Indian Tricolour during an attack on the Indian High Commission in London by Khalistani extremists, said his troubles began during student union elections in 2024. The Pune-born law student, who was pursuing an LLM at LSE and had previously practiced at the Bombay High Court, described facing harassment, hate, and bullying.
“Immediately after the incidents of harassment and doxing, I approached the university authorities, reported the abuses, and submitted evidence, including security footage, to identify the accused. However, they delayed the investigation deliberately, allowing the accused to graduate and evade accountability,” he said.
Surana said the university only considered one of his complaints—concerning defaced campaign posters—and dismissed it, citing the unavailability of security footage and the accused no longer being enrolled. “They ignored every other instance I reported,” he added.
He further alleged that remarks questioning his Hindu and Indian identity, including slogans such as “We don’t want a Hindu nationalist or an Indian nationalist to be elected,” were brushed off under the garb of freedom of expression. “How can such hate-filled rhetoric targeting a religious identity be justified as legitimate free speech?” he asked.
Surana also accused the university of double standards, stating that he was warned for social media posts criticizing the use of the Palestine movement to “sympathize with radical Islamist terrorist organizations.” He called this a glaring example of universities applying different standards to Hinduphobia and Islamophobia.
The Indian student went on to claim that this issue extends beyond LSE to other renowned global institutions. “These campuses are hostile to individuals who are vocal about their Hindu or Indian identity or those with ideologies that don’t align with their entrenched left-wing narratives,” he said, pointing to a “systematic pattern” of bias.
Surana also alleged that several faculty members at global universities harbor an anti-India stance, which he argued stems from anti-Hindu sentiment. “These individuals are brainwashing young Indian students, turning them into sympathizers of radical ideologies,” he said, describing this trend as an extension of “urban naxalism” infiltrating academia.
He urged Indian students and authorities to take note of what he described as a concerning and growing pattern of Hinduphobia and anti-India rhetoric on international campuses.
(Inputs from ANI)