A Indian student, who picked up a fallen Indian flag at a pro-Khalistan protest in UK, said he was only “saving” the Tricolour from being insulted as his conscience was shocked to see a policeman step on it. A video of Satyam Surana, who is studying at the prestigious London School of Economics, has gone viral with many on the internet lauding him for his “brave” act.
My LSE junior proudly picked up the Indian tricolour outside @HCI_London battling extremism with passion and non violance. pic.twitter.com/pKGK5qOlcI— Karan Kataria (@karanatLSE) October 4, 2023
‘Not afraid of Khalistanis’ — this is what netizens are saying about Surana, whose bio on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter) states that he is a “nationalist”. The LLM student entered a pro-Khalistan protest in front of the Indian High Commission in London and picked up a fallen flag. He alleged that a policeman deliberately stepped on the flag, which is why he decided to go and pick it up.
“When I saw that the Indian flag was being insulted, I went after the policewoman who had deliberately stepped on the flag. I picked up the flag and left from there,” he told News18 Hindi. “My conscience was shocked to see how this could happen. I could not see this and I went there and saved the flag from being insulted,” he said.
During the pro-Khalistan protest, Surana alleged, there was an attempt to insult the Indian flag. He said he had never seen the flag being disrespected in such a way, so his “conscience inspired him” to protect it.
Surana said protesters were shouting “anti-India” and “anti-Sunak” slogans and one of the protesters threw the Indian flag on the ground. In an interview to NDTV, he has slammed the tendency of some Indians abroad, who are “anti-India just to appear cool”.
“I saved the dignity of my country. But there are many instances when Indians go outside and become anti-India to be cool. They talk ill about India without any knowledge, just to show they are nice people among those who hate India,” he told NDTV.
Surana further said some of the protesters were angered by his act of picking up the flag but the Metropolitan Police intervened, brought the situation under control and safely evacuated him. His video was also posted by former UK government adviser Colin Bloom on X.
Calling pro-Khalistan protesters “thugs”, Bloom said there has been a worrying rise in discriminatory language against the Hindus coming from a “small but vocal minority of these Pro Khalistan Extremists (PKEs)”. He said an “overwhelming majority” of Sikhs will be appalled and the “aggressive minority” is a “blight” on the rest of the community.
It feels like there has been a noticeable and worrying increase in discriminatory anti-Hindu language and the use of vile tropes about Hindus coming from a small but vocal minority of these Pro Khalistan Extremists (PKEs). If the hateful language these thugs use against Hindus… pic.twitter.com/Qx9R7HTpFs— Colin Bloom (@ColinBloom) October 3, 2023
Surana also he saw some people walking around with the national flag tied to their ankles. “After this case, my parents are worried about my safety but they are happy with what I did. All my friends are very proud. I have only done my duty as an Indian citizen and I did what my conscience told me. Whenever I get a chance to serve the country, I never step back,” he told News18 Hindi.
Pro-Khalistan protests are being held to condemn the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed outside a gurdwara in Canada’s Surrey on June 18.
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