YouTuber Karl Rock, married to an Indian, has been barred from entering India since last October. The Union Home Ministry on Saturday, 10 July, reasoned that Rock had violated the terms of his visa.
The Centre blacklisted the New Zealand national, whose real name is Karl Edward Rice. The matter has been raised by him in India and in his home country.
Manisha Malik, who married Rock in April 2019, has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre's alleged "arbitrary and unreasonable" decision, news agency PTI reported. Malika has opposed the government, citing Article 21, which guarantees one the fundamental right to life and dignity. The matter is likely to come up for hearing next week.
Rock makes videos on travelling in India, interesting destinations, how to avoid scams etc and has around 1.8 million YouTube subscribers.
Rock was granted an X-2 Visa (meant for spouses/children of an Indian citizen) after his marriage, which was valid up to May 2024, PTI reported.
One of the visa conditions for him was to exit India every 180 days or to intimate the Foreigner Regional Registration Office concerned. To comply with this rule, Rock had left for Dubai last year.
In a video titled "Why I haven't seen my wife in 269 days #Blacklisted", Rock posted a video on YouTube and said, "I left India in October 2020 to travel to Dubai and Pakistan. When I left through the New Delhi International Airport, they cancelled my Visa. They would not tell me why they were cancelling my visa.”
Rock was informed of being blacklisted by the Indian High Commission in Dubai.
Moreover, tagging New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Rock said in a tweet, "they blacklisted me without telling me, giving reasons, or letting me reply".
Rock has also claimed that he and his wife have written multiple emails to the Home Ministry, but have not received any reply.
Officials in the Union Home Ministry were quoted as saying, “He was found to be taking part in business activities on a tourist visa and also violating other visa conditions," NDTV reported.
Meanwhile, several Twitter users suspect that Rock was blacklisted due to his tweets against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
Screenshots of Rock's tweets from December 2019 protesting against the CAA were posted by several users, suggesting his political activity as the reason for violation of visa rules.
Rock also said that he had donated plasma twice to the Delhi plasma bank, for which he reportedly earned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's praise.
In the video posted from New Zealand, Rock said, "I love my family and I miss them a lot."
(With inputs from PTI and NDTV)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)