Of Taufel, Howard And An Apology

I don't think you can compare cricket and a nation's security.
What the writer seems to have missed, though is the sheer volume of misinformation against Dr Haneef. I have never seen anything like it in my life. Besides his name and the fact that he was on a flight to Bangalore,every word we heard about him turned out to be untrue and the lies were vicious and vitriolic. If it was just holding him for all those days without trial, that would have been bad enough, but not really surprising any more, unfortunately. The constant character assasination of a young man at the start of a promising career is what really angered me, and it started the day he was arrested and continued even after the charges were dropped and he had left the country.
To name a few: he knew about the attacks; why did he leave in the middle of the night if he had nothing to hide (er, because the flight is at that time); he never asked for leave (he could have left a couple of days before if he had not had to arrange leave); he spoke approvingly about the insurgents; he had said he had no desire to bring his wife back to Australia; his brother warned him not to tell anyone anything; he could still be a terrorist after the charges were blocked, and finally, after he left, that this increased suspicions against him.
I think he deserves an apology for all of that.
Also for the amateurish interview with a Queensland Police officer, who asked at the start of the interview where Bangalore was in relation to Pakistan (!!) and what his mother tongue was-then wrote it down as Burdu. He had obviously never heard of Urdu, asking at one point, first you said you were speaking Hindi, now you say you were speaking Urdu, what were you speaking?
The people of Queensland deserve an apology for that as well. When cops don't even know what the languages of South Asia are, how can they fight real terrorism in this country?
As a letter-writer to the Sydney Morning Herald said, if the cops and the government can't deal with a mild-mannered Indian doctor whose cousin may have met a suicide bomber(Ok, exaggeration!) then what hope do we have that they'll be able to protect us from real terrorists?

Hey Salil, great to be talking to you. Good to know you're still in Hyderabad. As for our Hyderabad, only one who has stayed here long enough can appreciate its eccentricities along with the beautiful aspects of it.

I was at Koti at the time the blasts took place at Gokul. The scenes were so ghastly I cannot describe it. Maybe another time when the shock has worn off sufficiently.

Re: # 1, Very much in mana Hyderabad harish. Moved to Gachibowli campus accommodation. But looks like hamare sheher to kisi ki nazar lag gayi.. cant understand why innocent Hyderabadis are being targetted like this.. sadly thats the case all over the world.. happened to pass by Lumbini around the time the blast took place. whatever, it is pretty sad.

Sorry for the delay in replying folks.. internet ka masla hai .. Kaalbhai, I have no problems with the Aussie govt putting in laws to check the Islamist or other terrorist groups.. they have all the right to protect their country.. all I said is, they should also be bold enuff to acknowledge where they went wrong and apologise. But since u neither "ask nor advocate apologies, in general", I am understand why u dont appreciate what I wrote. Well the local Hyderabadi is the last one to apologise for anything (kyon Harish bhai??).. as one who has stayed in this city for long, I can tell you, it pisses me no extent when the pedestrian walks in the middle of the road and retorts with choicest ma-behen when asked to clear the way!

shah bhai, we have some good news in this particular case.
Court pulls up Aussie minister
Haneef wins visa case

Melbourne, PTI :
In a major victory for Mohammed Haneef, an Australian court on Tuesday quashed the government’s controversial decision to cancel his work visa after he was cleared of terror charges, saying the Immigration Minister had adopted a “wrong criterion”.

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews “cancelled the visa by adopting a wrong criterion. He fell into jurisdictional error by applying the wrong test,” federal court judge Jeffery Spender said in a verdict that has come as an embarrassment to the government. The judge also ordered the government to pay Haneef’s legal expenses. However, the doctor will have to wait for some time to get a fresh visa as the court granted a 21-day stay on its ruling to enable the government to respond.

of course! agreed, perfectly!

It isn't and shouldn't be perosnal at all. If the government made a mistake, it should do what it can to fix things. But most governments don't apologize all the time, at least not the ones in the real world.

It's just the question of being realistic, shah bhai, given that there are real problems of security.

for a govt as power full as any govt comes i do not think there is any objection to any secuirity measures ..but a single individual being 'roughed up ' in that process atleast needs restoration ...the least.. any powerfull govt should consider

nahi yaar, Haneef was NOT a terrorist, and good for him, for Muslims, and for Indians.

What the author is suggesting is that the Australian government has no right to take all security measures it deems necessary unless those security measures are perfect, or unless the government offers apologies for every error.

That is the real extremism, and real blow against Australia's ability to govern and protect itself against what it considers external threat. It doesn't matter who makes this attack, Indian, Hindu, or Muslim.

You are passing judgement and assuming Haneef was terrosit ....
no govt u.K. Usa or Even Saudi asks ALL nationals of single criminal to leave ..that is not generosity of Aussies ..
That is iF Haneef was FOUND guilty first

By the way, I for one, will fully understand if Aussies asked ALL Indians to pack up and leave for wherever the hell they came from if one Indian terrorist is found among them (Hindu or Muslim).

I just don't believe people must carry extra perceived risk and/or shoulder extra cost of security than they have to or want to...

shah, about Nathu Ram Godse, the ENTIRE RSS/Hindu Mahasabha was banned for years because one of its/their members murdered Gandhi. And that was a very right thing to do, it seems to me...

Kal,

I too oppose any terrorist or who condones it ..But at the same time how could he9Haneef) have been sure and not have implicated the terorist before he /she goes through his crime ....there is no direct link except that Haneef was RELATED which is not under any morality associates him to the criminal...have ever heard of Nathu Ram godse relatives being charged with the crime or any other indicment of crimnals relatives being indicted just for being so ...althouh to paint all associtin with a single brush ..as you have said before ....is a tendency often.

Haneef has been falsley accused by lies
and even after his visa status has ben restored..
highest office of Aussies would NEVER leave punishing him immorally

shah, only in this case. You know me, so there is no hidden agenda.

I see India as the center of Hindu/Indian civilization, the core, the only political base. Hindus, as Hindus, have no other home to go to. Is that true or not? If it is, then it is duty of every Indian to oppose Islamic terrorism more than any other form of terrorism.

That is meant to be neither just nor fair. It's as selfish as insisting that everyone should protect his or own home more than the home of the neighbors.

(Waise, I do not ask nor advocate apologies, in general.)

#3
let me turn the table for you Kal..
are you always this harsh when it comes to INDIAN or only this case

Apology for what, salil?

Are you always so apology happy or was it just this case? Perhaps it is some Hyderabadi connection...

Salil - it's a good one , good to see nice write-ups effecting the real issues.
As a law-enforcement officer myself, my advice to everyone is never to give your mobile phone sims to anyone - rather destroy it before discarding it.
Whatever happened to the poor doctor was wrong but one has to understand where Aussies are comming from as well .