Over 2000 Tablighi Jamaat members blacklisted, banned by MHA

News: The Central government, on June 4, banned 2000 foreign nationals for 10 years from travelling to India for their involvement in the Tablighi congregations across the country, according to a report by IndiaToday, quoting sources from the Central Government.

Here are five components of the story:

• The Union Home Ministry has blacklisted these foreign Tablighi workers, who came to India from 47 countries and were present at the time of the Markaz incident.
• The foreign Tablighi Jamaat members included those from Indonesia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Sudan, Singapore, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, the US, Syria, Belgium, Brazil, Australia and Afghanistan.
• The persons concerned were in India on tourist visas, and have been blacklisted for 10 years by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Sources said that countries can ban “visitors” under certain provisions. In the past, the provision of black-listing visitors has been provoked only for terrorists, a source in North Block said. But, the government is not happy with Tablighi Jamaat members, who were found to be in violation of visa norms and allegedly accounted for a rise in Covid-19 cases in India, as reported by IndiaToday.in.
• Action against the foreign Tablighi Jamaat members was first taken after over 2,300 people, including 250 foreigners, belonging to the Islamic organisation were found to be living at its headquarters located at Delhi’s Nizamuddin soon after the nation-wide lockdown was announced in March. Several of these members had tested positive for coronavirus.