Slumdog Millionaire Star Rubina Ali OFFERED FOR SALE By Her Father

News Of The World:

THE poverty-stricken father of Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina Ali plans to become a millionaire himself-by SELLING his nine-year-old daughter.

In a bid to escape India's real-life slums, Rafiq Qureshi put angel-faced darling of the Oscars Rubina up for adoption, demanding millions of rupees worth £200,000.

As he offered the shocking deal to the News of the World's undercover fake sheik this week, Rafiq declared: "I have to consider what's best for me, my family and Rubina's future."

Read the whole story: News Of The World

Comments

[demfriend]

That many who have commented on the story have expressed their degree of ignorance of the "real story" by insisting they will only believe the story if it was in a "real Newspaper". Folks it was in real newpapers as long as had the attention of the people who commented above, who have short attention spans. That movies are top box office for a few days or weeks shows the degree of attention spans we have. The "real stories about the area where these people/children live and what happens to them is researchable on the same computer you are using. The truth about these kids and families was told and has been told for many years and no one has any outcries in their country or region because this is the way things are done there. Unless someone adopts the regions like people have places like Darfur things will not change because we "have our own problems".

[AnalyzeIT]

Thank you 'demfriend', sometimes it seems as though people don't know much or even care to know much about anything unless it happens in their own neighborhood.

Many do not believe the story - all they would have to do is research the work the late Mother Teresa was trying to do to help people in India while she was alive. It's a shame so may people don't know what is going on in the world and when they do they refuse to believe it or even research it.

Grrrrr!!!!!!

Again thank you for a wonderful post.

[dagdavid]

If this girl hadn't been exploited by the entertainment industry no one would give a crap about her. The west does not want to understand the cultural differences.

[ProudNeoCon]

Sure... We do not understand the idea of selling your own kids... I hope we will never understand­...

[PwnedByJesus]

Huh? So you don't believe in child actors? How old do you have to be to appear in movies/TV? Was "Full House" an exploitation ring? How 'bout "Leave it Beaver"?

[dagdavid]

The child actors you refer to were from the U.S. and put in movies in the U.S., duh

[Steamboater]

Cultural differences do not make those differences right or legal for that matter. China used to bind women's feet., In Africa women are mutilated in that part between their legs, and the Taliban could make an argument for murder using religion and cultural differences as an excuse etc. Some cultural differnces are plainly criminal and no amount of respect for other people's culture is going to change that fact.

[who38]

If the only exploitation was limited to the entertainment industry, this would not be a story. As for concern with the child; you are right in any culture.

[Virginia Wai]

You mean the entire film industry that has children in it are exploiting? Or only in some part of the world?
I find it hard to see exploition when the girl was paid almost 3 years of her father's earning for one month filming as exploition.

[victorsays]

Fake story so you Westerner can feel better than these savages.

[AN2009]

It's strange that in your previous posts you complained about being discriminated against because you're Chinese, and now you're calling other people savages.

[AGarcia]

Duh... he's not calling them savages, he says point the finger at the father for wanting to sell his daughter is tantamount to calling all impoverished Indians "savages". Smarten up!

[FUHP]

I call BS on this story.

[GabrielXL]

"Hello Boys and Girls... Can you say "exploitation"? I knew you could." :^

How does one justify movie makers raking in millions of pounds/dol­lars/rupee­s for a film and have a child who helped make the movie still living in poverty and susceptible to this type of situation? Someone please explain this to me? Please.

[PlayTOE]

The film was distributed by FOX.
Guess who made all the money off of it?

[Virginia Wai]

I wonder if tis movie was made in US using US children would we be having this argument.
Some facts that I do know, actors pay are based in industrial standard, this girl was paid almost 3 years of her father's income for one month of filming, I do not see this as exploition.
The movie bacame a hit after it was filmed, during the filming, it was pretty tough to get financing.
Are these children supposed to get a percentage of the profit? If yes, the logic will be they should also be asked to burden a percentage of the loss, right? You cannot have it both way.
So, the children were in a hit movie, does it means the family should become instantly rich?
Can anyone tell me an example of this in any film industry in any country?

[PlayTOE]

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause, but only for the RICH.
Nice way to justify tossing this kid back into the slum after she helped make rich people even richer.

[GabrielXL]

Within this entire text, you make the case for why this argument is necessary.

"I wonder if this movie was made in the US using US children would be be having this argument?"

You can't tell me that you don't see the "irony" (for lack of another word) in this. The answer to your question is more than likely "No, we wouldn't. Why? Well, it most certainly wouldn't have anything to do with being paid "industrial standard". Your statement that the child was paid something equivalent to 3 years of her father's pay for one month of filming, and therefore insinuates that it somehow qualifies as "fair", fails on it's own merit when you consider the fact that the man still tried to "sell" her away. You can argue that this is a moral and/or ethical issue, but that doesn't negate the core issue. I'm not saying that the movie makers should have someone saved this family from it's situation, but you can't tell me that there isn't something wrong with the disparity between the film's creators who will continue to profit from this film and those who helped make the success possible in the first place. Likewise, you can't tell me that there was no knowledge about this girl's situation beforehand.

Your attempt to raise valid points, doesn't deter the fact that at the end of the day this child is no less susceptible to being exploited. By both her father and the makers of this movie.

[wndrwrthg]

Should not this child have a considerable income from the movie? Or, was she and the other children exploited by the movies makers?

[TchoupitoulasCanal]

I ask myself that often. If these children and their families are in a position where they are STILL in the slums of India, then I would have to say that they were in fact exploited.

Setting up a trust fund (which is apparently what the director, Danny Boyle, did) that they may not survive to see appears to be the ultimate form of exploitation.

[pollyannacowgirl]

The trust fund is the only ethical thing to do in this situation. If the girl's pay was given directly to the father, would she have the benefit of ANY of it? Probably not.

That's the reason we have the Jackie Cooper laws here. Exploiting parents spending all the money their children earned.

[churchhill]

Can we even trust that this story is real? "News of the World" is a tabloid, they are like the supermarket tabloids of the UK. They are known for making things up.

A few months ago this "news source" said that one of the boys from this same movie was beat up by his father and they had photos to prove it! They had a whole long article of "facts", but only later did CNN reveal that those pictures were of the boy crying because he had been stressed by all the jet lag, and extra attention he was getting.

I would not trust this story until you hear it coming from a REAL news source. Until then I will sit and wonder why such a big story is only being covered by one tabloid paper...

[liarsclub75]

I'm not buying this story either. Not a credible source at all.

[Virginia Wai]

If the story is not true, even better for the father, sue News of the World for liable and go for multi millions this time.
There must be lawyers out there lining up to help?

[Antacid]

And the indeterminate value of human life is again exposed by the philosophers in our tabloid press.

[Bariis]

But this is outrageous! What a great route to take for getting yourself out of poverty! fool!

[Chicago48]

I believe the father offered to sell the daughter. That dad and the other are leeches and sad sacks as fathers. They should be out trying to support the family. She's the best thing he's got....and he's taking a one-time one shot offer of $1Mil....a­fter he's spent the money then what? Danny and the production company should step in and adopt the girl, take her from the family. She's so pretty and lively. That's pitiful.

[Virginia Wai]

After he spent the money, he will contact he news again and show his bleeding stumps, how his daughter is living in luxury and he and the rest of the family are still in the slum.
These people are parasites.
There is a news item in Hong Kong a few days ago, the step father of a ex- Miss Asia was arrested outside her luxury condo ; he was screaming away that his daughter who is now rich never give him any money, he and her mother are suffering and still live in social housing.
Some people see their children as a bottomless wallet, that's all.
Open those eyes and stop seeing exploitation every time when a child is from the third world and the supposed 'exploiter' is white and from the West.

[Bariis]

Where are Madonna or Angelina when you need em?

[ObamaWorshipper]

Madonna fell off a horse.

[Bariis]

lol, right, forgot about that.

[piul05]

And then you have these "enlightened" souls, that by hearing a case such as this, are already screaming here in the Huff (and elsewhere) that it's all poor people's fault for having too many children.

Samir Amin's work on demographics shows that the question is not as simple as that.

Education, accompanied by improvements in the standard of living, naturally brings to the rate at which people reproduce themselves, without resorting to Big Brother's tactics. Population control measures, such as the one taken by China, have had devastating effect not only upon private lives but opon the population in general, by creating a sex imbalance and depriving families of the strong ties which make the basic fabric of any community - no siblings, uncles and aunts, no cousins.

In other societies - including Western ones, such measures would in effect mean that the wealthy would be allowed to procriate, and the less fortunate, not. That would be paramount to eug*nics.

The unsustainability problem that many like to point out has less to do with population growth and more with the fact that 2% of the planet's population consume 40% of its resources - in other words, one US or European child from the upper middle classes probably costs the planet the same as a family of 6 elsewhere. It's rather im*ral to advocate forced population control when wealth distribution is so disparaging.

[RodgerLodger]

Yeah, but it is what it is.

[naan]

somebody tell Madonna

[ObamaWorshipper]

She isn't black enough for Madonna.

[cd789]

Keep in mind the unfathomable conditions and poverty that this family lives in -- it's beyond what most of us can even begin to comprehend because there is nothing like it in the US. Couldn't this situation have been avoided if the movie producers or worldwide distributors provided a royalty contract to the children? Even an negligible percentage of 0.1% of revenue would have guaranteed a significant income for these children and their families for years to come. Granted, these kinds of contracts are never given to supporting cast members, but considering my first point, wouldn't this be the time for an exception? After all, how much do you suppose was paid just for the Academy Awards after party? What could that have done for these children instead?

[Virginia Wai]

When the fil was being made, nobody dreamt that it will be such a hit, in fact they have problem getting finance.
Now, do extras and small part players in a movie in Hollywood get a royality contract?
We are all being wise after the event and we are all being bleeding heart about these children..­..
If the film maker was one Bollywood, we would not be having this debate.

[wadenelson1]

Sweetheart I'll wait for you at the train station with a good home, good food, good schools, and everything you'll ever need to grow up happy and safe. And your parents can come visit anytime they like.

[Antacid]

Pedobear, is that you?