By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
BELAL Haniffa is a doctor, a hunter of feral animals – and vehemently denies he’s the person Casey Mayor Sam Aziz seems to imply he is.
Mr Haniffa’s Facebook profile picture was highlighted by Cr Aziz during an online spat with Facebook group Casey Against Racism.
The picture depicts Mr Haniffa wearing a camouflage cloth masking his face in the Outback, and his name written in Arabic and English.
Cr Aziz, who referred to Mr Haniffa as a follower of Casey Against Racism, stated on Facebook that the image and a post by the group which is critical of him “speak for themselves”.
“I am sure friends on my page will draw their own conclusions about the type of support behind this group of ‘rent a crowd’ idiots.
“Again I am reminded of the old adage ‘what you are speaks so loudly, we cannot hear what you say’.”
Mr Haniffa, a Greater Dandenong resident and surgical resident at Peninsula Health, told Star News he was on a hog-deer hunting trip when the profile picture was taken.
“It was a bit surprising that he picked on me specifically. It didn’t seem reasonable from a person in public office to pick out a random person and single them out as a shady character.
“My friends have joked with me before that one day a newspaper will ring me up because someone is calling me a terrorist over that photo. Then something like this actually happens.”
He said violent, extreme groups that claim to be Islamic are abhorrent to him – “the same as anyone else”.
But his parents are worried that the imputation by Cr Aziz could inspire dangerous reaction against their son.
Mr Haniffa said “it’s a bit concerning”, pointing out Cr Aziz’s large following though most of their comments haven’t specifically targeted him.
“It’s encouraging a narrow-mindedness amongst those who view it. He says they don’t need to look any further, just what they see.”
Mr Haniffa was introduced to shooting during cadets training at Melbourne High School and re-applied for a gun licence to hunt feral goats while studying in rural NSW.
“It’s a good way of sourcing meat. You’re using a resource that’s out in the wild.”
He recently hunted hog-dear on the Gippsland coast – the feral Indian species being a particular problem at Wilson’s Promontory, he said.
On that trip, he and other hunters underwent licence checks from police – who also checked he was storing his weapon properly.
The sniping between Cr Aziz and Casey Against Racism concerns a proposed mosque in Narre Warren North – an application rejected by the council.
Casey Council cited the proposal’s impact on the green-wedge foothills and local roads, including an objection by VicRoads, as reasons for its decision.
Mr Haniffa said there seemed to be a mixture of planning grounds and anti-Islamic sentiment among mosque opponents – some of whom live outside the area.
The project would help relieve over-crowding at an existing mosque on Belgrave-Hallam Road, he said.
“I would think if people were concerned with traffic and congestion at the current mosque they would be supportive of another mosque to take the pressure off.”
In response to Mr Haniffa and his supporters’ denials, Cr Aziz told Star News: “I don’t have to believe them.”
The mayor pointed to his own mass of support, a long-list of Facebook visitors that commented favourably and shared his post.
“I’ve made my point and I move on – I’ve got hundreds of millions of things to do.
“They are the ones that started it by calling us racists, and then I followed them.
“If they dish it out, they can expect it back.”
In its latest post on 10 May, Casey Against Racism challenged Cr Aziz to “disown himself of any support for these anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic groups and their ideology of terror against Muslims”.
Casey Against Racism is a group formed in support of the proposed mosque in Narre Warren North.
