Opposing CAA, sponsoring Caste resolution: Ex-US Councilor Kshama Sawant laments rejection of India visa

Seattle-based Indian-American economist and former Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant who came in support of the anti-social elements during the Anti-CAA protests has recently accused the Indian government of “harassment” after facing repeated visa rejections. Taking to X, Kshama Sawant claimed that she has been trying to visit her ailing 82-year-old mother in Bengaluru but has faced multiple setbacks.

As per the claim, Kshama Sawant and her husband, Calvin Priest, first applied for an e-visa in May 2024. While her husband’s visa was approved, her visa was denied. Despite applying for an emergency visa three weeks ago, she has yet to receive approval. She alleges that her past political stance against the Indian government could be the reason.

She also claims to write to Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in June 2024, pleading for a visa, citing her mother’s worsening health condition but she did not receive any response. On twitter she wrote, “India’s PM Modi & the BJP government are denying me a visa to see my ill mother. I’m not alone. Modi has retaliated against other activists & journalists, denying or revoking entry into India. My socialist Seattle City Council office took an unwavering stand against India’s right-wing, anti-worker, anti-Muslim PM Narendra Modi & his right-wing nationalist BJP party. Modi & the BJP have waged sustained attacks on workers, farmers, Muslims, and other oppressed groups in India, including with the anti-Muslim, anti-poor CAA-NRC law, which denied citizenship to millions. Working people and my office passed the first U.S. resolution condemning CAA-NRC. We faced opposition not only from the U.S. Democratic Party but also from Modi’s Indian consulate in San Francisco itself, which publicly opposed us”. 

“We also won a resolution in solidarity with the farmers’ movement in India against Modi’s brutal and exploitative policies. We also won a historic citywide ban on caste-based discrimination, the first of its kind outside South Asia, despite opposition by Seattle Democrats, and right-wing, pro-Modi groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Hindu American Foundation. Donald Trump is now beginning his promised mass deportation campaign, including workplace raids. This continues the steady escalation of attacks on immigrant workers in the US, which has been carried out by both Democrats and Republicans. Working people & the Left internationally need to fight against the right wing and the billionaire class, and their brazen tactics of repression and attacks on immigrants, activists & movements, including with strike action and civil disobedience. Fight against Modi, BJP, Trump, Republicans, Democrats & all the capitalist parties,” she further added in her ranting post. 

Kshama Sawant has had a controversial past and has been a part of the ecosystem working to undermine India’s sovereignty and peddle Hinduphobic agenda. The Seattle City Council which Kshama Sawant is a part of had passed a resolution condemning India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and called them discriminatory to Muslims. Interestingly, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had nothing to do with Muslims of India, but it was about providing Citizenships to religious minorities living in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had to migrate to India to escape the worst of the religious persecution.  

Also back in 2023, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution, sponsored by Council member Kshama Sawant, to recognize caste as a protected category under the city’s non-discrimination policy. The move was nothing but discriminatory against Hindus. Caste Based Discrimination by Hindus is a imaginary construct brought by the Hinduphobes backed up Equality Labs report which was debunked by experts including the Carnegie Endowment.