MHA blacklists 2,550 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members, bans entry into India for 10 years

The government has blacklisted 2,550 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members, revoked their tourist visas and banned them from entering India for the next 10 years on charges of indulging in missionary activities by violating norms.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the orders against these people, who were staying in the country during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in violation of visa rules. The action came after the MHA received reports from state governments about those found illegally living in mosques and religious seminaries across the country.

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The Tablighi Jamaat had landed in controversy after a large number of COVID-19 cases in the country were linked to attendees of a mid-March religious congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin.

The authorities had then evacuated over 2,300 people, including 250 foreigners, from the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin to hospitals and quarantine centres.

The leaders of the Tablighi Jamaat, including its chief Maulana Saad Khandalvi, were accused of going ahead with the congregation violating the restrictions put by the Delhi government about large gatherings.

Delhi Police also invoked charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and others besides issuing Look Out Circulars against at least 1,890 followers of Tablighi Jamaat for visa violations.

The lockdown from March 25 was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the coronavirus pandemic.