Mumbai tears down ‘Slumdog’ star’s home

Mumbai tears down ‘Slumdog’ star’s home

MUMBAI, India - City workers bulldozed the home of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star Thursday as part of the demolition of dozens of shanties in a Mumbai slum.
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail was asleep when a police officer woke him up and told him to leave his family's home, he said. Shortly after that, the shack and about 30 more were destroyed.
"A police officer took a bamboo stick to hit me, and I was frightened," said 10-year-old Azhar.

...U.D. Mistry, an official with the city's Bombay Municipal Corporation, said the razing was part of a "pre-monsoon demolition drive.
He said only illegally built shanties — not homes that were legally owned — were bulldozed.
"They were removed. That is the principle," he said, adding he was not aware that the child star lived in that slum.

Whether or not he knew a child star was living there...wow! Were they squatting on someone elses property? Were they squatting in the middle of a road? Maybe a shanti is a more sturdy house than what some homeless people use in America (cardboard). Hmm.

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