Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Haneef’s detention

The manner in which the Australian authorities are handling Dr. Mohammed Haneef’s case is an insult to all Indians. First, they held him without charging him. When pressure started mounting, they charged him with “recklessly” supporting terrorists. Just as the court granted him bail, the Immigration Minister revoked his visa. When the Indian government expressed concern, the Australian government said Dr. Haneef’s link with the terror suspects in the U.K. were not trivial and threw him in solitary confinement. Now that a transcript of his statements to the police has been leaked, the Australian authorities will hopefully come under renewed pressure.

P. Sen,
Howrah

One wonders how it is possible for any government to treat a person in this manner even before his guilt has been established by law. It looks as though the war on terrorism is taking an extreme shape in western countries. The Haneef episode is sure to worry all Muslim parents in India about the safety of their sons working in the west.

Rameeza Rasheed,
Chennai

The Australian Government’s decision to declare Dr. Haneef “a terror prisoner,” despite the weak ground on which he has been charged is unfortunate. One wonders whether a European or an American in Australia would have received similar treatment for a similar act.

B. Harish,
Mangalore

The whole affair has led all right-thinking Indians, especially Muslims, to conclude that Australia is not a safe destination for professionals.

Suhail Sabir,
Aligarh

Tagged a terror prisoner for handing over a SIM card — how disgusting! Dr. Haneef’s fault seems to lie in his being an Asian and a Muslim.

Rubina Baseerath,
Hyderabad

Dr. Haneef, even if proved not guilty, will face ignominy and social stigma inflicted upon him and his family by the intense media scrutiny. The ghoulish episode will traumatise him for life.

Asif Aqil,
Lucknow

The Prime Minister lost no time in calling upon the Australian authorities to treat Dr. Haneef fairly. Aren’t we prejudging that the Australian judicial process cannot be trusted to be impartial?

B.N. Gururaj,
Bangalore

The Haneef case should ring alarm bells in the Indian security establishment that we have come a long way from not having a single Al-Qaeda recruit.

P.S. Neelakantan,
Chennai

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