Indian student in UK criticises “biased” investigation into his allegations

Indian student Satyam Surana, who claimed to have been the target of hate campaigns and slander during the London college elections, has harshly criticized the way the issue has been handled and said that the university has treated him in a “biased” manner.

He has further claimed that “pro-left” views have “hijacked” today’s main university campuses, making it impossible for them to accept someone who has a “vocal Hindu and Indian identity.”

In an interview with media, Surana discussed his claims and claimed that even though he had given the university’s authorities “irrefutable evidence,” all of the charges had been dismissed, with the submissions being deemed “insufficient” and the accused students’ comments falling under the heading of “freedom of expression.”

During student union elections at the London School of Economics, Surana had previously spoken out against alleged hate and smear campaigns directed at him. In 2023, he gained notoriety for recovering the Tricolor amid an attack on the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom by Khalistani extremists.

The student, who was born in Pune, has also been practicing for a few months in the Bombay High Court. At the time of the alleged encounter, he was enrolled at the London School of Economics to pursue an LLM.

“As soon as this harassment, hatred, bullying, and doxing episode occurred, I went straight to the university’s officials for redress and via all available channels. From obtaining the accused person’s CCTV footage of them writing and marking my posters throughout the campus to reporting the hateful remarks and WhatsApp messages I received, as well as the abuses I received on various social media platforms, I petitioned the department and security to withhold the security footage,” he said.

He said that since the majority of the accused students passed out during this lengthy probe, the institution purposefully prolonged it in order to benefit them.

Since that (event) occurred somewhere in March 2024 and we are now in January 2025, it has been over ten months since I received the ruling in late December 2024. Therefore, these LSE authorities have chosen to not support the accusations I have made. They have done so by claiming that the evidence presented is insufficient and that, out of all the numerous incidents I have complained about, they have only chosen one particular instance involving the scrawls on my poster.

They have also claimed that the security footage is unavailable and that the student is no longer a student of the college because he has passed out, so there is nothing we can do. Nearly every single instance I spoke about has been disregarded,” Surana said.

In addition, the Indian student claimed that despite giving the university screenshots of “hate messages,” the accused students’ course IDs, and their social media handles at the university’s request, the evidence was judged “insufficient” in what Surana describes as a “clear misinterpretation” of the record.

Since the majority of the accused had already passed out and were no longer part of the university’s ploy, he further said that the school had “willfully and deliberately” wasted months of time in order “to favour the people involved in the hate campaign.”

Additionally, Surana said that the majority of his accusations have been dismissed under the guise of “freedom of expression.”

Surana said that several really contentious comments were made against him and his identity. “They (the university) have merely stated that students are free to express their thoughts and opinions but there needs to be some limitations,” he added.

“We don’t want an Indian nationalist or a Hindu nationalist elected to the student union,” was the cry used to jeer at me. It is an attack on my religious identity, and the university has made it clear in their decision letter that this is well within the scope of their legitimate exercise of their freedom of speech and expression. However, he added, “How can spewing venom against one religious identity be within the garb of freedom of speech and expression?” “Here, my Hindu identity, my proud Indian identity, everything has been questioned, keeping the political side of things aside.”

Surana also cites an instance in which the institution reprimanded him for his social media postings, in which he allegedly made reference to the way the “Palestine movement was used to sympathize with radical Islamist terrorist organizations.”

According to him, “these universities are using a double standard when handling cases of Islamophobia compared to when handling cases of Hinduphobia.”

Surana continued by accusing prominent international colleges of being “hijacked” by “left-wing ideology,” which they are exploiting to incite hate against India among Indian students.

“I have had other such events in the past, whether at Oxford, the same London School of Economics, or other institutions. This is not the only instance of what I have encountered. Therefore, this systematic trend emphasizes a crucial point: these schools do not welcome individuals who openly express their Indian or Hindu identities or any other identity or ideology that conflicts with their long-standing left-wing ideology, according to Surana.

“We have faculty members who consistently hold anti-Indian views, and there are numerous other faculty members at other universities,” he said.They have taken over this entire academic community because of their anti-Indian hatred, which is rooted in their anti-Hindu hatred, which has now materialized as a political ideology in these people’s various forms of urban naxalism. They are brainwashing these groups of young Indian students and transforming them into what we might refer to as urban nationals and Maoist terror sympathizers.