On April 2 (local time), Karan Kataria, Student Academic Representative, LSE Law School at The London School of Economics and Political Science, exposed Hinduphobia and anti-India rhetoric on campus. In his statement on social media, Kataria pointed out that he was disqualified from running for the post of General Secretary of the LSE Student Union LSESU after a smear campaign was launched against him to paint him as homophobic, Islamophobic, queerphobic, and Hindu nationalist.
In his statement, he pointed out that he belongs to a middle-class farmers’ family from Haryana, India, and he was the first-generation university-level graduate in the family. Considering his background, his journey to the London School of Economics and Political Science LSE cannot be deemed as privileged. However, his passion for student welfare and desire to strive on campus were shattered because of a deliberately orchestrated smear campaign launched against him because of his nationality as Indian and Hindu identity.
Karan was elected as the cohorts’ Academic Representative. He was also elected as a delegate to the National Union for Students in a short period. Considering his experience in engaging with the students in different positions at LSE, his peers motivated him to run for the post of General Secretary of the LSE Student Union LSESU. Karan said he was disqualified without being given a chance to tell his side of the story. He noted, “The silent treatment of the students’ complaints about such unacceptable behaviour also justifies the accusation of Hinduphobia against the LSESU.”
However, he was pushed back as some individuals on the campus could not “bear to see an Indian-Hindu leading the LSELU”. They restored to smear his character and his very identity. The campaign against him was in line with the alarming cancel culture at the campus. As a result, he was disqualified from the General Secretary elections of the LSE Student Union. His disqualification came despite immense support from students of all nationalities. He was accused of being homophobic, Islamophobic, queerphobic, and Hindu Nationalist. Multiple complaints were filed against him by individuals with vested interests.
The case of Rashmi Samant
This is not the first time a Hindu student got attacked for being a Hindu and an Indian in a western University. In February 2021, then-Oxford University student Rashmi Samant faced a similar attack. Samant, in a Twitter thread, said, “When I was attacked, harassed, bullied and humiliated at the University of Oxford for my Hindu Dharma, origins and background, I prayed that it should never happen to another Hindu on Campus. Karan Kataria’s story and experience from LSE is absolutely heartbreaking!”
She added, “It brings back the simmering issue of deep-rooted Hinduphobia not just in the UK but on campuses and in academia across the world, which under the guise of liberty, curtail the rights of historically persecuted communities like the Hindus. It is not Karan’s fault that he aspires to be a leader. He has every right to be one. Being Hindu does not make him less worthy of taking charge and creating change on any platform of his choice. LSE we demand transparency!”
“This incident brings back a personal trauma to the surface when I was not allowed to take office as the rightfully elected First Female Indian President of the Oxford Student Union due to the mindless cancel culture that continues to prey on the most underrepresented communities,” she said.
Rashmi Samant was hounded by leftists and anti-Hindu propagandists after becoming the first female Indian elect of the Oxford University Student’s Union on February 11. She was forced to resign within days after being abused, bullied and targeted for being a Hindu and over her views against British colonisation.
In a coordinated attack, her old social media posts were dredged up, accusing her of being racist, anti-semitic, Islamophobic, and transphobic. Besides this, Rashmi was also targeted for being a Hindu. One of the faculty members in Oxford – Dr Abhijit Sarkar had even dragged Rashmi’s parents into the controversy, attacking them for having a Lord Shri Ram display picture on their social media accounts while claiming that Rashmi’s student council elections were funded by Prime Minister Modi.
He had even accused Rashmi of being Islamophobic by alleging that she came from coastal Karnataka, which the faculty member termed as “a bastion of Islamophobic far-right forces”. Following the controversy, netizens from across the world demanded the dismissal of Hinduphobic faculty AbhijitSarkar and trended the hashtag #DismissAbhijitSarkar on Twitter.