Indian-origin American politician, Kshama Sawant, on Friday protested at the Indian consulate in Seattle after being denied an emergency visa to see her unwell mother in Bengaluru. Sawant had previously served on the Seattle City Council.
She in a post on X said that her husband’s visa has been approved while her application was rejected for the third time because of her name being on a “reject list”.
Meanwhile, the Indian consulate on social media platforms posted about “unauthorised entry by certain individuals”, while Sawant countered with allegations of physical assault by officials.
Additionally, the activist blamed PM Modi and the BJP administration regarding the situation.
Previously, she had protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and supported the farmers’ protests.
Sawant, who was born in Pune, earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai in 1994. Later, she relocated to the United States and obtained her doctorate in economics from North Carolina State University in 2003.
Prior to her political career, she served as an economics educator at the tertiary level for three years. She affiliated herself with Socialist Alternative, a US-based political organisation, in 2006. Despite an unsuccessful attempt to secure a position in the Washington House of Representatives in 2012, she successfully gained a seat on the Seattle City Council the following year.
She led the legislation that established a mandatory $15 hourly minimum wage in Seattle. However, her critical stance towards the Indian government and anti-Hindu comments have caused discontent among Indian American groups and community leaders.
In 2023, under her leadership, Seattle became the first US city to prohibit caste-based discrimination through council legislation. This move drew significant opposition from Hindu Americans, who argued that it unfairly targeted their community, which already experiences discrimination in the US.
In 2020, she successfully pushed through a Seattle City Council resolution opposing the CAA and NRC, claiming these measures “discriminating against women, Muslims, members of suppressed castes, indigenous and LGBT individuals”.
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