Who is Kshama Sawant? Indian-American Protests Visa Rejection

Kshama Sawant, an American of Indian origin, protested outside the Indian consulate in Seattle on Friday after her emergency visa to visit her ailing mother in Bengaluru was rejected for the third time. She had earlier served on the Seattle City Council.

She posted on X that her husband’s visa was approved while hers was rejected for the third time because her name was on a “reject list”. 

Meanwhile, the Indian consulate posted on social media about “unauthorised entry by certain individuals” and she alleged physical assault by officials.

She also blamed PM Modi and BJP government for the situation.

Earlier she had protested against CAA, NRC and supported farmer’s protests.

Sawant was born in Pune, did her bachelors in University of Mumbai in 1994 and later moved to US and did her PhD in economics from North Carolina State University in 2003.

Before her political career she was an economics educator at tertiary level for three years. She joined Socialist Alternative, US based political organisation in 2006. Though she lost in 2012 elections for Washington House of Representatives she won the seat in Seattle City Council the next year.

She introduced the legislation that made $15 minimum wage mandatory in Seattle. But her anti-India and anti-Hindu comments have created discomfort among Indian American groups and community leaders.

In 2023 under her leadership Seattle became the first US city to ban caste based discrimination through council legislation. This move was heavily opposed by Hindu Americans who argued it targeted their community which already faces discrimination in US.

In 2020 she got a council resolution passed in Seattle opposing CAA and NRC saying these are “discriminatory against women, Muslims, members of suppressed castes, indigenous and LGBT individuals”