NEWS

Haneef's ordeal to be depicted into play

By Natasha Chaku in Melbourne
January 26, 2008 11:30 IST

A play depicting the ordeal of Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, wrongly accused of involvement in the failed UK car bombings, during his nearly four-week detention in Australia in 2007, will be staged across Australia in February.

Haneef: The Interrogation written by Graham Pitts will be premiered in Melbourne on February 24.

"The play will basically highlight that he was wrongly detained by the police before being proved innocent in front of law," Pitts said.

"The play will strongly target Australia's new anti-terrorism laws and its message is to inform people that what has happened to Haneef here can happen to anyone of us," Pitts told PTI on Saturday.

The two-man play, to be performed 15 times across the country next month, was written based on the transcripts obtained by Pitts from the Web sites of various Indian and Australian newspapers.

Pitts said he felt the need to write the play because the "Haneef case highlighted a culture of fear cultivated by new anti-terrorism laws".

"It certainly doesn't label him as a terrorism suspect," he said adding, he would like the Indian doctor to watch the play.

"I would ask him to come back to Australia and myself go to airport to receive him and take him to see my play," he said.

Pitts said he was also in talks with Indian theatre groups to stage the play in India as well.

Natasha Chaku in Melbourne
Source: PTI
© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

NEXT ARTICLE

NewsBusinessMoviesSportsCricketGet AheadDiscussionLabsMyPageVideosCompany Email