By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef, on his way to India Sunday after a 25-day incarceration in Australia, has in a media interview denied any involvement in terrorist activities and said the accusations were defamatory.
Asked if he had ever been or is a supporter of any terrorist organisation, Haneef, 27, said: "No, it's not in my nature to ever support or involve in such activities at all.
"I don't mean to harm anyone by my words. How can I harm someone with my activities? That's what I mean to say," he said in the reportedly paid interview to Channel Nine's flagship current affairs programme "60 Minutes", which was aired here Sunday evening, leaving many Australians hooked to their TV sets.
Haneef was held at Brisbane airport July 2 on the charge of helping those behind the failed British terror plots of last month. He was, however, cleared of any involvement in terrorist activities Friday and boarded a Thai Airways flight Saturday evening on his way to Bangalore.
Before the home journey, Haneef told his side of the story to "60 Minutes" reporter Tara Brown in Brisbane – reportedly for AU$ 150,000.
The gentle, shy "suspected terrorist" — as the world was made to believe — looked straight into the eyes of the reporter as he answered her questions with confidence, sometimes upset over the chain of events that had put him through so much trauma.
Asked if he was a terrorist, the Indian doctor said: "No." And when the reporter further questioned him if he had ever thought about it, a puzzled Haneef said: "Me? Never imagined even in my remotest corner of my brain that I would be labelled with such a defaming thing."
Queried if the SIM card, which he gave away to his cousin in Britain and on the basis of which the Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged him, was designed to help a terrorist act, he said: "No, not at all, not at all. Definitely not! He (Sabeel Ahmed) is a family member, he wanted to use it. It's a SIM card and phone, I mean."
He first heard about the botched bomb attacks in London and Glasgow from Sabeel's mother, "who had called me and told me there was some problem with the SIM card. And she asked me to clarify this.
"This was all happening actually on the way. I had my plans to go home to visit my family because I had a recent baby and my child. I had my plans prior and these, there are all circumstantial things."
At that time, the impression the Australian public was given was that Haneef was planning to flee the country with a one-way ticket.
Haneef said he bought the one-way ticket because of financial constraints "but not with an intention of leaving Australia. All my friends knew I was going and there was everything here left over. My car, my laptop, my everything and if I had to abscond like that, why would I do so?"
As in the earlier 142-page transcript of his police interview that was leaked to the media, Haneef said he had called the British investigators about his SIM card four times, but could not get through and so he continued on with his plans to fly to India.
He denied living with his cousins, Kafeel and Sabeel Ahmed from Bangalore, and ever hearing any radical comments from Kafeel. The cousins are among the prime suspects for the failed terror attacks.
"I couldn't really believe that someone from my family, or from my far family, would do such a thing. I couldn't believe."
He said if he had known his cousins were planning any terrorist activities, he would have "let the authorities, let their parents know first who are the main sufferers now, I suppose…
"They are very respected doctors and the way the family knows them, I couldn't believe someone from their family could be involved in such kind of things and I don't know what to say."
Asked about his first reaction on being arrested at Brisbane International Airport, Haneef said: "I was frightened with that."
He also spoke at length about the police interrogation in which he was asked about his personal details, his studies and the place where he had lived and what he had been doing all this time, his bank details and bank transactions.
The police also queried if he had any training and if he had been to Pakistan or Afghanistan, both of which he denied.
Haneef doesn't think that what he has gone through will make Australia any safer from terrorism. "People need to be detained but not with such a long period."
Even as the AFP claim to have enough circumstantial evidence to continue investigating Haneef's case, the Indian doctor made it crystal clear that he had suffered enough and was leaving Australia to be with his family.
One thing Haneef did not really expect from the Australian government was to cancel his visa. "If I'm deported, it really shatters my dreams, definitely."
Despite the incarceration Haneef may still one day think of returning to Australia. "It's just a matter of my visa to be sorted out."
Queried what he would think during the flight home, an emotional Haneef said: "I don't know what I would, but certainly I would cherish the moment which I have lived here, the people I have met here.
"And it's some sort of satisfaction that I have done some contribution at least and it's a great honour to be working with these people. They've been very good to me and very supportive and hopefully we will think of coming back.
"I'd be very keen to see my little angel. She's been very lucky for me," he said, hours before seeing her for the first time.
He said he was feeling great about all the support he had. "My lord has restored my honour back to me, that I am innocent."
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