Lilly Singh slams Indian consulate over visa, Sushma steps in
TORONTO: This time, comedian Lilly Singh was not amused.
As the Indo-Canadian YouTube celebrity went to the Indian Consulate in Toronto for a visa for a book tour in India starting later this month, she was given a threemonth business visa, instead of a travel document for a longer term.
Miffed at that, and at “rude behaviour” there, she tweeted a complaint to external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Swaraj directed India’s High Commissioner in Ottawa Vikas Swarup to address the matter, while tweeting back to Singh: “Let me see what best can we do for you.”
On Saturday, Swarup, also a celebrated author, contacted Singh on Twitter: “Please send me your contact particulars on my official twitter handle. Happy to be of assistance.”
Given the directions from the minister, officials are looking at a longer-term visa for Singh, who has often travelled to India in the past.
In an emailed response, Swarup said the minister “has asked Lilly Singh to contact me. I am waiting for her to do so. We will try our very best to resolve her visa issue.”
Visas to India are usually handled by an outsourcing agency but Singh visited the consulate in Toronto. Less than satisfied with the result, she used her considerable social media heft (2.24 million followers on Twitter; over 11 million subscribers on YouTube) to make her point.
First, she tweeted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During that tweetstorm, she said she did “love India” but the consulate was “literally the worst place on earth.” Then she tweeted to Swaraj. Singh, who is among the highest-grossing YouTube stars in the world, will be touring India, covering Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi. Her book has already reached the top spot on the non-fiction bestsellers list in Canada.
Meanwhile, as Indian officials scramble to deal with the visa affair, she may have lived up to the title of that book, How to be a Bawse: A Guide To Conquering Life.