Travel YouTuber Karl Edward Rice, popularly known as Karl Rock, who had made headlines last year when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal praised him for donating plasma for Covid-19 treatment, is blacklisted by the government of India and is stopped him from visiting the country. He is originally from New Zealand.
Karl Rock is known for sharing travel tips for foreigners coming to India and is married to an Indian national who lives in Delhi since April 2019.
On Friday, Karl uploaded a YouTube video titled 'Why I haven't seen my wife in 269 days. He claimed that the Indian government has blacklisted him and is preventing him from meeting his family. He added that he has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the government's stand.
Karl is currently in New Zealand. He told The Indian Express that he was not given a reason as to why he is blacklisted and that his wife was ignored by the Ministry of Home Affairs when she reached out for help.
Many social media users allege that he is blacklisted for visiting an anti-CAA protest site and documenting it. The video was later removed from his channel. He has 1.79 million subscribers.
Karl said that he could not be with his wife and in-laws when they contracted the coronavirus. While he does not want to speculate the reasons for being blacklisted, he mentioned that in one of his videos he spoke about corruption in Indian politics. However, he is relying on a writ petition to find out the reason.
The Union Home Ministry responded to the issue by saying that Karl is restricted from entering India till next year for violating the terms and conditions of his visa. An official said that the New Zealand national was on a tourist visa but was engaging in business activities.
The petition Karl filed in HC says that he had been abiding by every single condition of his visa. He added that he was issued an X-2 visa meant for spouses and children of Indian nationals after his wedding. The visa is valid till 2024. One of the conditions of the X-2 visa is that he will have to exit the country every 180 days or inform the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO).
His last entry to India was in November 2019. He was stranded due to the nationwide lockdown in March 2020. He tried to inform the concerned officer when the 180-day mark approached but his application for visa extension was found rejected and an exit permit was issued instead, reported The Indian Express.
In October 2020, his visa was cancelled at the Delhi airport when he was exiting India to travel to Dubai and Pakistan. While in Dubai, he applied for a new visa and called the Indian High Commission. He was later informed that he had been blacklisted.