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The Indian Consulate in Seattle was faced with a law and order situation over the emergency visa denial to Indian-American politician Kshama Sawant. The Consulate General of India in Seattle said it was forced to call in relevant local authorities after "certain individuals" tried to enter the Consulate premises without authorization after office hours and refused to leave.
"Today, 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. Despite repeated requests, these individuals refused to leave the Consulate premises and engaged in aggressive and threatening behaviour with the Consulate staff," the Consulate General of India in Seattle said in a post on X.
Today, the Consulate was forced to deal with a law and order situation arising from the unauthorized entry by certain individuals into the Consulate premises after office hours.
Despite repeated requests, these individuals refused to leave the Consulate premises and engaged in…
— India In Seattle (@IndiainSeattle) February 7, 2025
The consulate did not provide any further information on the matter, but Ms Sawant, a former City Council Member of Seattle, alleged she was denied the visa because her name was on a "reject list".
This is not the first time Ms Sawant's visa application to visit her ailing mother in Bengaluru was denied. She claimed that her Indian visa was rejected thrice while her husband, Calvin Priest, was granted an emergency visa to see her sick mother.
Elaborating on the series of incidents on Thursday, Ms Sawant said she along with members of Workers Strike Back engaged in a "peaceful civil disobedience" at the Indian consulate, demanding an explanation about why her visa request was rejected thrice.
"My husband and I are in Seattle Indian consulate. They granted him emergency visa for my mother being very sick. But rejected mine, literally saying my name is on a "reject list." And refusing to give explanation why. We're refusing to leave. They're threatening to call the police on us," she said in a series of posts on X.
A Consular officer said I'm being denied a visa coz I'm on Modi govt's "reject list."
It's clear why.
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.…
— Kshama Sawant (@cmkshama) February 7, 2025
"A Consular officer said I'm being denied a visa coz I'm on Modi govt's "reject list." It's clear why. 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," she said in another post.
Ms Sawant has been a vocal critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in India and had "urged" the country's political Opposition to speak up for critics like her. She had also moved the resolution outlawing caste-based discrimination in Seattle while she was a member of the Seattle City Council.
After her decade-long stint with the Seattle City Council, she established a political organisation - Workers Strike Back, advocating for a federal minimum wage of $25 an hour and unionising labour in big Tech.