February 7, 2025e-Paper
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February 7, 2025e-Paper
Updated – February 07, 2025 04:08 pm IST
Seattle City Council Member Kshama Sawant(R) in a May Day rally. File | Photo Credit: AP
After Indian consulate in Seattle rejected Indian-American politician Kshama Sawant’s emergency visa, she has alleged that the Embassy staff physically assaulted her and called the police.
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.
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…
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.
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.…
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”.
Published – February 07, 2025 04:01 pm IST
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