Finally, it was time for jubilation at Dr Mohd Haneef’s home in Bangalore. The news that the Australian Federal Police had dropped all charges against Dr Haneef, brought smiles of relief on the faces of the doctor’s wife, mother, sister and brother.

“I am glad the truth is out. His innocence has been proven as we have been saying. Now we want him to return honourably, not deported,” Dr Haneef’s wife Firdous Arshiya said after her cousin Imran Siddiqui called up from Australia to say the charges have been dropped.

“We hope Haneef will be given a bridging visa to facilitate his stay in Australia until his return to India in a day or two,” she said.

Firdaus who has been the voice of the family in India—constantly reiterating her husband’s innocence, appealing to the Prime Minister on his behalf and meeting the External Affairs Minister—showed her relief by posing for pictures in bright clothes with her newborn daughter, Hania, who will be a month old on Saturday.

Firdaus thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Ministry of External Affairs and human rights groups in Australia for their support to her husband’s cause. “Without the Government’s help this would not have been possible,” she said. At Dr Haneef’s mother’s house, his family emerged publicly for the first time since they first spoke out about Dr Haneef’s detention.

His sister Sumayya Tabassum said Dr Haneef had spoken to their mother Quruthullain on Thursday night and told her that he would return honourably. “We always knew he was innocent. Now that he has been cleared of charges, we are all happy,” she said. “On Thursday, he said everything will be all right,” Dr Haneef’s brother Mohammed Shoaib said.

... contd.