Unauthorised entry: Indian Consulate in Seattle on visa denial to Indian-American politician Kshama Sawant

The Indian Consulate in Seattle on Friday said that the Consulate faced a law and order situation after certain individuals tried to enter the Consulate premises without authorization after office hours. The incident happened over the visa denial to Indian-American politician Kshama Sawant.

“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.

Kshama Sawant claimed that her Indian visa was rejected thrice while her husband, Calvin Priest, was granted an emergency visa to see her sick mother in India.

In a series of posts on X, Sawant said that she and members of Workers Strike Back engaged in a “peaceful civil disobedience” at the Indian consulate, demanding an explanation about why her visa was rejected three times.

“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,” Sawant said in a series of posts on X.

“All we are asking is an explanation. Why am I on the reject list? Why has my visa been denied,” she can be heard saying in the video.

Kshama, who has been a vocal critic of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), said that the visa rejection was politically motivated.

Kshama Sawant was also the one who moved the resolution outlawing caste-based discrimination in Seattle.

The resolution put an end to caste-based discrimination that has been allegedly growing in the United States, across many industries.

The resolution, however, did not go down well with a section of the Indian-American community, as many were of the opinion that the resolution targets the South Asian diaspora in the US.