Satyam Surana, an Indian student, has alleged that a hate campaign is being conducted against him by some radical elements during the student union elections at the London School of Economics (LSE) this year.
When talking to an Indian news agency, Surana said that a very “well-planned” smear campaign was initiated against him just 12 hours before the voting, and he was linked to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He went on to state that he was even labelled a “fascist” and students were asked to boycott him and his campaign.
Surana, currently pursuing an LLM at the London School of Economics, explained to the news agency that the LSE elections were announced in February and early March, during which time he submitted 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,” Surana said.
Furthermore, he stated that messages circulating within all groups at the LSE on March 17 falsely labeled him as a BJP supporter, a fascist, an Islamophobe, and a transphobe.
“The messages were so seditious and contentious of the Indian government and the current establishment,” he added.
The Pune-born student said that radical elements used screenshots of his social media posts where he praised the BJP government in a malicious manner.
Additionally, Surana mentioned that a photo of himself with Maharashtra Deputy State Chief Devendra Fadnavis was also exploited by those orchestrating the campaign to falsely portray his affiliation with the BJP.
The picture was taken when Fadnavis had invited him during his India visit.
“Those who targeted me are part of that group that can't digest the success of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and hence spread such false and malicious propaganda,” Surana claimed.
“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," Satyam stressed.
Satyam Surana made headlines when he retrieved the Indian national flag from the ground during an attack on the Indian High Commission in the United Kingdom by Khalistani extremists last year.