The actions of the Australian Government in the case of Dr. Mohammed Haneef must be condemned in the strongest terms. It may be recalled that Dr. Haneef, a second cousin of Dr. Kafeel Ahmed, one of the suspects in the failed London and Glasgow airport bombings in the UK, has been detained under counter-terrorism laws in Australia since July 2. He has been detained under the charge of providing "reckless" support to a 'terror network', simply because he had given his telephone SIM card to Dr. Sabeel Ahmed, brother of Dr. Kafeel Ahmed, before leaving the United Kingdom some months ago. After a judge in Australia granted him bail, the Australian Immigration Minister cancelled his visa under the pretext that he had failed a 'character test' associated with the loan of 300 pounds, borrowed for the purpose of paying an examination fee, from Dr. Kafeel Ahmed and his failure to return the fees. Following this, Dr. Haneef has been moved to Immigration Detention and then to Solitary Confinement, normally reserved for those who are convicted for heinous crimes.

In the subsequent days, it has been proved that the police affidavit that was used by the Immigration Minister, and also used by the judge hearing the bail application, had details at variance with the transcript of the interview given by Dr. Haneef. The transcript of this interview is now available freely on the internet and elsewhere, and its veracity has not been questioned. In the face of this, there has been a great uproar among human rights groups and the general public in Australia. Pressure is mounting from all sides to drop the charges against Dr. Haneef and to secure his release. Despite this, the Australian Government is resisting the pressure and in the case of a release, there are plans to deport him back to India.

These events have come at a time when the Australian Government is widely perceived as nothing more than a hyper-active junior partner in the Anglo-American imperialist camp, which is hell-bent on imposing its hegemony world over, especially in the troubled hot-spots of Afghanistan, Iraq and the middle-east. These developments come at a time when the Austrlian Defence Minister has stated that Australia’s participation in the Iraq war is indeed about oil, a fact that the world knew all along. It is also worth keeping in mind that the Government of John Howard will face electoral test later this year and is well aware that heightening security concerns is one of the surest ways of generating a swing in electoral fortunes. But unfortunately for Mr. Howard, the events of the last several days have exposed the utter depravity and lies, doctoring and fabrication of evidence that is being used to detain Dr. Haneef.

The incident concerning the abuse of Dr. Haneef is a part of the global plan of Anglo-American imperialism, to carry out the vilification of Muslims in general, irrespective of their nationality and place of birth, and to spread the idea of there being a 'clash of civilizations', a threat to western democracies from Islamic terrorism. It is intended to cover up the reality that most of the peoples of the world today are facing grave threats on a daily basis from imperialism, especially that of the Anglo-American camp.

What is clear from the persecution of Dr Haneef is that the so-called 'war against terror' around which the ruling circles in the Anglo-American camp have united, is no more than a code word to carry out the worst kind of human rights abuses, arbitrary detention, incarceration, torture, etc., against those of the Muslim faith who happen to live in these hot spots. Furthermore, in order to suppress dissent at home, draconian 'counter-terrorism' laws are being passed in all the countries in the Anglo-American camp as well as in those countries that are trying to curry favour with the Anglo-American imperialists, to advance their own imperialist ambitions. The case of Dr. Haneef has come as an opportunity to test the limits to which these laws can be used, and to test the limits to which public opinion can be stretched both in favour and against such laws. The most blatant violations of human rights and of even standard legal procedures is taking place in these countries that are projected as “democracies”.

Dr. Haneef is a victim of the Anglo-American imperialist ‘war against terror’, and the charge of ‘connection to terrorist activities’ against him appears to be baseless. We must therefore, in no uncertain terms, condemn the actions of the Australian Government and demand the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Haneef.