Who is Karl Rock? Why is he making headlines?

New Zealand-based Karl Edward Rice, better known as Karl Rock on YouTube, has been on the news after he released a video earlier this week alleging he had been separated from his wife in India for 269 days.

Karl alleged that the Government of India has blacklisted him from entering India since October 2020, with the government saying that he violated visa norms.

Karl, who married Manisha Malik, an Indian, in 2019, had been living in the country on an X-2 visa (meant for spouse/children of an Indian citizen) which had a validity period of May 2019 to May 2024 and one of the conditions in the visa for him was to exit India every 180 days or to intimate the Foreigner Regional Registration Office concerned.

Read | YouTuber Karl Rock's wife moves Delhi HC challenging Centre's decision blacklisting him

The government has alleged that Rock was engaging in business activities on a tourist visa and also violated other visa conditions.

Rice runs a YouTube channel called Karl Rock, which has 1.8 million subscribers. In his video, titled "Why I Haven't Seen My Wife in 269 Days #Blacklist", Kark describes his situation.

In his own words, he says he makes "videos about travel safety and incredible travel destinations, along with videos to help people avoid scams."

"India is my passion," Karl says in his video.

Karl says he went to Dubai and Pakistan in October of 2020, and when he left through the Delhi airport, his visa was cancelled, and after repeated attempts to get a new visa from Dubai is when he learned that he was blacklisted and could not return to India.

"We've written multiple emails to the Home Ministry and gotten no reply," he says, adding that his wife went to the Ministry's doorstep but was ignored entirely. He even says that he was ignored by the Indian High Commissioner in Wellington.

As for why he has been blacklisted, Karl says he does not know and the government has been ignoring his requests to find out why, which has led to his wife filing a plea in the Delhi High Court. "Without the judiciary, we have no recourse," Karl says.

Karl has faced backlash over his video on Twitter, with people pulling up some of his older content, including his appearance at anti-CAA protests and consuming beef.