Meanwhile, in Britain, on June 30, two second cousins of Haneef, Sabeel Ahmed and Kafeel Ahmed, attempted to set fire in Glasgow airport by burning a jeep. They are now charged in relation to the London and Glasgow bombing attempts.

When Haneef learnt from India (his young wife lives in Bangalore) that British police wanted to interview him about the SIM mobile card, which he had given to one of his second cousins in England before he left, he arranged a one-way ticket from Brisbane to Bangalore via Malaysia, but he was stopped at Brisbane airport.

Gung-ho approach
On July 2, he was arrested in Australia on the charge that he had given his mobile SIM card to one of his second cousins in Britain, who has been charged with failed terrorist acts. There was a suggestion that he had lived with his cousins in Britain.

Observers believe a few factors went against Haneef. First, he is a Muslim. Second, he wears a trimmed beard. Third, he hails from India, and South Asia has a bad name for harbouring Islamic militants. There is a view that every young Muslim (18-45 age group) in Australia is a potential suspect for carrying out terrorist acts, and Dr. Haneef is no exception.

When the magistrate in Brisbane released Haneef on conditional bail, the federal Minister for Immigration, Kevin Andrews, controversially intervened, and cancelled his working visa, using a provision generally intended for the deportation of non-citizens who served sentences after convictions. Haneef was detained under immigration laws. The minister had overridden the magistrate's order.

That gave the case a political edge, with critics of the Howard government claiming that Dr. Haneef had been caught up the turbulent undertow of an election year.

The media, eminent lawyers, and civil liberties groups protested against the detention of Dr. Haneef. They felt that the government had been abusing the powers under the terrorism law.

Finally, the Federal Director of Prosecution, Mr. Damian Bugg, intervened and withdrew the case from the court. The case against Dr. Haneef was dismissed because the charge against him was totally wrong. His SIM card was discovered in Liverpool and not in Glasgow. Furthermore the suggestion that he lived with his cousins was not substantiated.

Officials red-faced when charges dismissed
All the persons including the ministers are now red-faced. Every agency is blaming the other for Haneef's illegal detention. The police blame the directorate of prosecution and the directorate blames the British police for wrong information. The ministers blame the police.

Things looked different four weeks ago when Haneef was charged. The attorney general (law minister), the federal police commissioner, and the minister for immigration were eager to be seen associated with the detention of a suspected terrorist. Australians were advised that the government was protecting the community from the threat of terrorism, and the detention was necessary.

Political undertone behind the arrest
Haneef's incident drew parallels with the Tampa boat incident, ahead of the 2001 election, when the shrewd prime minister Howard controversially blocked a boatload of mainly Afghan asylum seekers to Australia. He sent them to a Pacific Island, Nauru.

Howard became "the hero of Australia" for many conservative white Australians, because he knew how to keep Asian refugees away from Australia, and eventually won the election.

Howard faces the general election at the end of the year, but the polls are not in his favour this time. He thought that Haneef's case would provide him another political lifeline. He attacked lawyers who questioned the legal process, accusing them of desiring to destroy national terrorism laws.

For Prime Minister Howard, Haneef, a suspected terrorist, was a big catch in the election year. He always exploited immigration and terrorism issues to his advantage. He instills unnecessary fear in the minds of the community (especially among women), and projects himself as the only political leader who can make Australia safe and secure from terrorism.

The prime minister told the media that he did not know every single detail of information about Haneef. Suddenly, for the prime minister, ignorance was bliss. When his minister for immigration was in trouble, he defended him and said it was better to be safe than sorry.

The lawyers say that the prime minister failed to explain why his own minister for immigration decided to keep Haneef under detention even when the prosecution withdrew the case in the court.

Certainly, Haneef's case has become the subject of fiery debate among members of the Australian enlightened public. One female university student reportedly put the finger on the button saying to BBC: "Maybe I am cynical. But John Howard is always trying to capitalize terrorism."

Dr. Haneef left Australia for his home on July 28 as a free man, although his reputation was temporarily tarnished. He said that he had nothing to do with terrorism, and had never thought he would be defamed in this way.

Credit goes to the robust Australian media, lawyers, and civil liberties groups, for questioning and protesting the detention of Dr. Haneef. If they had not raised a hue and cry there would have been little incentive for the director of public prosecution or the government to review the case and release the suspect.

The Indian media see a wider implication in Dr. Haneef's detention. The detention is likely to have a backlash in many countries in recruiting Muslim doctors from South Asia. Furthermore, in Australia, Indian Doctors' Association said that the government had damaged their reputation and trust in dealing with their patients.

Australia was responsible for such a huge damage to the reputation of Indian doctors in detaining Haneef, but the prime minister ruled out any apology to Dr. Haneef for the gross miscarriage of justice.

Barrister Harun ur Rahsid is former Bangladesh Ambassador to UN, Geneva.