AsiaNet-Pakistan Premier Editorial Content and Press Release Distribution Service
New Delhi: The Indian consulate has denied a visa to Kshama Sawant, an Indian-American leader and former Seattle City Council member, preventing her from visiting her ailing 82-year-old mother in India.
According to a statement by Kashmir Media Service, the visa rejection is reportedly due to Sawant’s opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Sawant has been an outspoken critic of the legislation, which has garnered significant controversy and debate.
Sawant took to social media to express her frustration, disclosing that her visa had been denied on three occasions. “My husband and I are at the Indian consulate in Seattle. They granted him an emergency visa due to my mother’s serious illness but rejected mine, stating that my name is on a ‘reject list’ without providing any explanation. We are refusing to leave, and they are threatening to call the police on us,” she wrote on X.
In a subsequent post, Sawant alleged that a consular officer had explicitly linked the visa denial to her inclusion on the Modi government’s “reject list.” Sawant suggested that her political actions, including her role in passing a resolution condemning the CAA and banning caste discrimination, were factors in the decision.
In February 2020, the Seattle City Council, considered one of the most influential city councils in the United States, unanimously passed a resolution condemning the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Sawant introduced the resolution during a period of widespread protests in India against the citizenship law.
The resolution urged the Indian Parliament to repeal the amended law, halt the National Register of Citizens, and uphold the Constitution. It also called for measures to assist refugees by ratifying various United Nations treaties.
The post Delhi Denies Visa to Indian-American CAA Critic Kshama Sawant appeared first on pakistannewsgazette.com.