Visa Denial: Anti-Caste Activist Kshama Sawant Retrieves Passport as Online Petition Gains Momentum

New Delhi- Seattle-based Indian-American politician Kshama Sawant has retrieved her passport from the Indian Consulate in Seattle after weeks of waiting for a response on her emergency visa application to visit her critically ill mother in Bengaluru.

While taking back her passport for other travel purposes, Sawant and her husband, Calvin Priest, signed a letter explicitly stating that they wanted their visa application to continue being processed. Yet, despite this, the Indian government has remained unresponsive, further strengthening accusations of political retaliation.

Sawant, a long-time critic of the Modi government and a vocal advocate against caste discrimination, has been denied a visa three times—twice in 2024 and once in January 2025. The denial comes amid growing concerns that the Indian government is blocking her entry due to her activism.

"My husband and I went to the Indian consulate here on Monday and got our passports back. We did sign a letter in which we say that we want them to continue processing the application even though we had to take our passports back for other travel purposes. So officially, by their own stated process, they can't claim that they had to stop processing our application because we retrieved our passports. The Consulate representative made it very clear that the Indian government is aware that we see this as political retaliation. Yet, they are still not granting the visa. At this point, I don't see how anyone can plausibly deny that this is retaliation." Sawant told The Mooknayak.

Kshama Sawant is a socialist leader and an anti-caste activist, her primary activism has been in socialist politics, labor rights, and housing justice. She played a key role in making Seattle the first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination in 2023, a landmark move against caste-based oppression in the diaspora.

Online Petition Gains Support Amid Outrage

As Sawant’s struggle continues, public support for her cause has surged. An online petition demanding that the Indian government grant her a visa has already gathered 752 signatures, with many condemning the Modi administration’s actions as vindictive and inhumane. Bahujan scholars and activists have also spoken out against the decision. Anti-caste activist Anil H. Wagde emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “Kshama’s mother is on her deathbed and longs to see her one last time. Those responsible for issuing the visa must act with compassion.”

Sawant’s visa denial is not the first instance of the Indian government allegedly targeting dissenters abroad. In February 2020, she led a resolution in the Seattle City Council condemning the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), which many critics view as anti-Muslim and discriminatory. The Indian Consulate in San Francisco had actively lobbied against Sawant’s resolution, and she also faced opposition from U.S.-based Hindutva groups.

Her role in making Seattle the first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination further cemented her status as a target of right-wing forces. Many now see the visa denial as part of a broader effort to silence anti-caste and progressive voices.

With Sawant’s mother’s health rapidly deteriorating, the delay in visa processing continues to raise serious humanitarian and ethical concerns. The Modi government’s refusal to grant her entry, despite her repeated applications and growing public pressure, underscores the ongoing crackdown on dissent—both within India and beyond its borders.