Opposition parties must speak up for Modi critics, says Indian-American politician Kshama Sawant

Kshama Sawant, Indian-American politician and a critic of India’s Hindu Right has currently been in the news after being denied an emergency visa by India to visit her ailing mother in Bengaluru. However, the Indian consulate in Seattle granted it to her husband Calvin Priest.

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”.

Before establishing a political organisation — Workers Strike Back that advocates for a federal minimum wage of $25 an hour, unionising labour in big Tech, to tap into what she calls “pent-up frustration agnainst the Democratic Party” for supporting big businesses, Ms. Sawant had served a decade on the Seattle City Council.