Mohamed Haneef; The Politics of Hate.
Of one thing we can be sure. Australian Federal
Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews, and Prime
Minister John Howard will pursue Mohamed Haneef with every ounce of their being.
Far more important for them now, is not Dr Haneef's guilt or innocence - details
like that are not important for this Government - it is the political mileage to
be gained from denigrating him, and the loss of face to be suffered if he proves
to be innocent. One has only to observe the on-going slaughter in Iraq,
(justified now as a huge loss of face if the invasion fails) with the carnage of
Iraqis not even worthy of comment by the war mongers Howard and Downer, to see
how individuals of other than white Caucasian bent stand in the grand order of
things.
The pursuit of Lindy Chamberlain by the Northern
Territory Police after the first inquest into the disappearance of her daughter
Azaria comes to mind. The police were severely criticised by the coroner for
their incompetence leading up to the inquest. As a result, the Chamberlains were
pursued ruthlessly, and as in the Haneef case, a steady stream of leaks
prejudicial to the Chamberlains found its way into the media. The demonising of
the Chamberlains served to spread an intolerable and toxic mix of hatred and
fear throughout the community, and with the compliance of the media, who seemed
to be more interested in selling their wares than in serious investigative
journalism, the Chamberlains were subsequently convicted. It took years to
establish their innocence.
Mick Keelty
has shown his humanitarian side previously. When the parents of a young man
called Scott Rush, concerned that their son might have been involved with drug
smuggling, informed the police of their concerns, it was under Keelty's
authority that that information was passed on to Indonesian authorities,
resulting in the arrest of nine young people for heroin smuggling on Indonesian
soil (Bali) and the subsequent sentencing to death of five of them. Scott Rush,
dobbed in by his well meaning parents, just nineteen at the time of his arrest
and on his first trip to Bali, is one of those now facing execution. They could
have been arrested on Australian soil, where the death penalty does not
apply.
This is the nature of the
'holier than thou' ragtaggle who are supposedly in charge of protecting our way
of life. They have an interpretation of justice which differs widely from the
accepted definition of that word, and Mohamed Haneef has already seen more than
his fair share of it. His innocence or guilt is not as important as is the need
for these mongrels to save face, and in an election year, to sow fear.
Fortunately, Australians having been suckered with these tactics on numerous
occasions, seem to be waking up to the Howard Government's duplicity. It will
not however, deter the Government from their course. They know no other
way.
Posted: Thu - August 2, 2007 at 12:42 PM
