Asked what he would have made of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the Islamist Taliban militia in Afghanistan, Mr Gandhi said: "He would have stood up to them."I am sure Gandhi would have spoken out honestly and loudly. By contrast, our leading politicians only make a noise when it is in their interest. They fall silent when leadership is most needed. They pedal a nonsensical version of reality that is as corrupt and dangerous as the jihad they claim to oppose.
"The Muslim and non-Muslim issue was a very important issue in his life in India, and he was killed because many Hindus thought he was friendlier to the Muslims than was necessary," the former Indian parliamentarian said.
"So today, he would never agree with the idea that there's something connected between Islam and violence or Islam and terrorism. He would totally oppose that idea."
Here's Alexander Downer hypocritically accusing Labor of playing politics over the Haneef case. I mean, how morally bankrupt can you get? The only accusation you can make against Rudd is that he hasn't jumped in and played the game. Sure, he should have stood up for Haneef's civil rights, but he knew what was coming so he let Peter Beattie do the media thing.
So the whole thing has back-fired on the government. Downer is pissed. It's time to muddy the waters, then walk away, and public interest be damned.
