Govt Bans 2550 Foreign Tablighi Jamaat Members From Entering India For 10 Years

NEW DELHI: The Government today banned 2,550 blacklisted foreign nationals from travelling to India for 10 years. The blacklisted foreign nationals were involved in Tablighi Jamaat activities.

This is perhaps for the first time that the government has blacklisted a large number of people in one stroke and banned their entry into India for such a long duration under the Foreigners Act.

Foreign Tablighi Jamaat attendees had earlier also been charged for the visa rules violation and the MHA cancelled their visa blacklisting 1,750 foreign-based members out of the total 2,083.

The blacklisted Tablighi foreigners include nationals from nearly 40 countries- the US, the UK, France, Australia, Russia, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam,  Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, the Philippines, Qatar, Senegal,  Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Ukraine.

The action has been taken by the Home Ministry after various State governments provided details of the foreigners who were found to be illegally living in mosques and religious seminaries across the country.

They had entered India on a tourist visa and had attended congregations at the Nizamuddin Markaz between March 13 and 15.

Many Tablighi members later tested positive for coronavirus. The Nizamuddin Markaz emerged as one of the major coronavirus hotspots in the country with around a thousand COVID-19 positive cases and over two dozen deaths traced to them.

In April, the government had blacklisted the foreigners and cancelled their visas after finding their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities.

The government has already decided not to issue a tourist visa to any foreigner who wishes to visit India and take part in Tablighi activities.

from League of India