Slumdog child stars homeless in Mumbai

Nearly 20 children who acted in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire have been thrown out onto the streets. This morning (Thursday) authorities demolished nearly 50 huts in a Mumbai slum, saying he and other families were squatting on land that was owned by the government.

Azharuddin Ismail Shaikh, the movie’s child star, said the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai ordered them to move out of their shanties in Garib Nagar slum of Bandra East and demolished them. "We have nowhere to go. We are just sitting on the road in the blazing sun right now. All our belongings and other household goods have either been thrown out or damaged. We don't know what we will eat today," Azhar, crying inconsolably, told Indo-Asian news service.

Municipal commissioner Uma Shankar Mistry said the city authority had specific orders from headquarters to clear off all hutments, which are constructed on the main drain in Bandra East."It may have happened that these celebrity children's homes also fell in this category, but we have to follow orders," Mistry said.

He added that if eligible, all the homeless people would be provided alternative accommodation before the monsoon, expected to hit Mumbai early June. In the meantime, the families of Azhar and his co-star Rubina Ali Qureshi are now pinning their hopes on getting a flat as promised by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

Reports published by the BBC say that police smacked the boy, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, with a bamboo stick before ordering him out. He played a younger version of one of the main characters in the film, which scooped eight Oscars. This is the second time in the past five years or so that the MCGM has demolished the shanties in the area. Since the last demolition, the families, including those of the 'Slumdog' artistes, have been living in a park or pavements, resident, Yakub Abdul Sheikh told The Times of India newspaper.

The mother of the child actor said that she did not know what would happen to her family now and that the help promised by local authorities and by the film's makers had not materialised. "Our house has been broken down by officials. We have not been given any alternate accommodation. Earlier the authorities had said they would give us a house. But I don't think that will happen any more," Shamim Ismail told the BBC.

Film director Danny Boyle has strongly denied charges of exploitation. The film's makers have set up funds to pay for their education and they have been enrolled in school for the first time. They also recently announced that they would donate £500,000 to a charity, which will help children living in the shanty towns of Mumbai.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children