Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was officially formed in April 1948, at a meeting in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.[4] The Government of India twice banned the organisation though both decisions were revoked by rulings from the Supreme Court of India.[2][11] During the mid-1980s, it allowed its members to vote in elections in India.[12] By 2002 it was described as "fervently campaigning to defend and strengthen secularism and democracy" in the face of advances by Hindu nationalists.[1] On 18 April 2011, it facilitated the launch of a national political party Welfare Party of India, under a leadership that included top functionaries of the organisation and members from the wider Muslim community and outside, including a Christian priest.[13][14]