Australia cancels visa of Bangladeshi religious preacher over radical speech

Darwin, 01 April: Australia has canceled the visa of popular Bangladeshi religious preacher Maulana Mizanur Rahman Azhari following controversy over his statements. The government took this action over allegations that he praised Adolf Hitler and spread hatred against Jews.

The information was confirmed in a report by the Daily Mail on Wednesday (April 1).

According to the report, Daily Mail first broke the story about Azhari. The preacher has a strong online following of around 10 million and regularly delivers lectures across Asia, the Middle East, and Western diaspora communities.

As part of his Australia tour, Azhari was scheduled to speak in a lecture series titled “Legacy of Faith,” with planned stops in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra. However, he is now being forced to leave the country midway through the tour.

Daily Mail reports that his visa was canceled on Tuesday, and he is currently awaiting departure.

The report also notes that Azhari had previously been banned from entering the United Kingdom, and in Bangladesh, restrictions had been imposed on his public speaking over allegations of extremist rhetoric.

Australian Liberal Senator Jonathan Duniam said on Wednesday that he and other members of parliament had been warned in advance about Azhari’s visit by various groups.

Speaking in the Senate, he stated that the minister, along with several MPs, had received information from different organizations, including the Australia Federation for Ethnic and Religious Minorities based in Bangladesh.

The Daily Mail report further claims that in 2023, Azhari promoted various antisemitic conspiracy theories, praised the Holocaust, and portrayed Jews as inhuman.

It also states that Azhari described Hitler as a “divine punishment” for Jews and declared that “Jews are the biggest terrorists in the world,” referring to them as a “toxic stain.”