Kshama Sawant visa rejection: Sawant alleges physical assault at Indian consulate in Seattle

Seattle City Council Member Kshama Sawant(R) in a May Day rally. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Ms. Sawant said she and members of her political organisation ‘Workers Strike Back’’ went to the Consulate on Thursday (February 6, 2025) to seek an explanation on why her visa was rejected.

Ms. Sawant alleged that Consulate repeatedly threatened to call the cops on them and tried to confiscate their phones and tried to physically remove them from the premise.

She said as they were leaving, one of the Consulate staff physically assaulted them. “One Consulate staff person first violently grabbed a Workers Strike Back member and tried to take her phone. The phone fell down, and the Consulate staff member engaged in a scuffle, trying to grab the phone. At the same time, another Consulate staff person physically fought me when I was holding the door open for all of us to leave”, she said.

Following this incident, Indian consulate General, Seattle wrote in their “X” handle that they were compelled to call in local authorities to deal with the situation. The post, without mentioning Ms. Sawant’s name mentioned of taking further action on her and her acquaintances. It is alleged that they have entered the consulate after office hours.

Ms. Sawant was denied an emergency visa by India to visit her ailing mother in Bengaluru. Previously, Ms. Sawant’s visa application was denied twice in 2024. She had appealed the Opposition parties to come together to state that they would not support “an inhumane agenda where Indian citizens, like my mother, are not allowed to meet their own families”. The officer at the consulate did not give an explanation, simply saying Ms. Sawant’s name is on the “rejection list”.