Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant, who is of Indian origin, has alleged that she was denied an Indian visa to visit her ailing mother. She asserted that her name is on a “visa reject” list due to her role in passing a law in Washington state that bans caste discrimination.
This marks the third time in the past year that her visa application has been rejected. In response, Sawant and members of her organization, ‘Workers Strike Back,’ staged a sit-in protest at the Indian Consulate in Seattle, describing it as an act of “peaceful civil disobedience.”
Officials from the Indian Consulate called local police to handle the situation.
Sawant shared her experience on X, stating, “My husband & I are in the Seattle Indian Consulate. They granted him an emergency visa for my mother being very sick, but rejected mine, literally saying my name is on a ‘reject list’.” She further wrote, “They are refusing to give an explanation. We’re refusing to leave. They’re threatening to call the police on us.”
The Indian Consulate in Seattle also posted on X, presenting their version of the incident. “The Consulate was forced to deal with a law and order situation arising from the unauthorised entry by certain individuals into the Consulate premises after office hours,” their statement read.
The Consulate claimed, “Despite repeated requests, these individuals refused to leave the Consulate premises and engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour with the Consulate staff. We were compelled to call in relevant local authorities to deal with the situation. Further action is being initiated against the trespassers.”
In a separate post on X, Sawant alleged, “A Consular officer said I’m being denied a visa because I’m on the Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) government’s ‘reject list’.”
She attributed her visa denial to a resolution she had introduced in the Seattle City Council, which she believes led to her being placed on the “visa reject” list. “It’s clear why,” she stated. “My socialist City Council office passed a resolution condemning Modi’s anti-Muslim anti-poor CAA-NRC citizenship law. We also won a historic ban on caste discrimination.”
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by India’s Parliament in 2019, and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) have been contentious policies, drawing both domestic and international debate.
In 2023, under Sawant’s leadership, the Seattle City Council became the first U.S. city to include caste as a protected category in its anti-discrimination laws. This legislation also made Seattle the first city outside South Asia to ban caste discrimination.