The month-long ordeal for Dr. Mohammed Haneef and his family is finally over. The Indian doctor returned home from Australia on Sunday night to a rousing welcome from family, friends, relatives and well-wishers after the terror charges against him were dropped and his honour restored. While Australian media and local NGOs played a pivotal role in his release, the Indian government too intervened and did what it could do for him. Ironically, when our Prime Minister objected to the stereotyping of Indians in view of Haneef’s arrest in Australia, he simply overlooked the fact that many continue to languish in prisons of his own country without being charged. When our progressive Prime Minister appealed Australia to honour and safeguard Haneef’s rights, he forgot how the rights of several voiceless men and women are regularly violated because of the painfully slow and sometimes-flawed justice system in India. Under such circumstances, the pride and self-esteem of the person become the first casualty and his life second. And the appalling conditions in the overcrowded prisons simply add to his never-ending woes. And how about those who are charged on flimsy grounds after being rendered powerless by the ruthless and moth-eaten system? There have been several instances in the past when anti-terror laws were used thoughtlessly and blindly. People are booked and incarcerated on mere suspicion...and the suspicion could arise from a variety of factors, including the community one belongs to. It takes them months and years and sometimes an entire lifetime to prove their innocence. So how are we preserving and protecting their rights? Are we not dishonouring the very tenets of democracy? And we have the cheek to call Australia a racist country? We are the casteist, the communalists and world’s greatest hypocrites.
