Fame and Shame, Who's to Blame?

Audience: 17-23

Purpose: The purpose of this editorial is to illustrate how becoming famous can be equivalent to catching a disease. With one hit movie, Rubina Ali's father has become the centre of attention and undercover operations.

Exploitations and allegations, must be another day in the life of someone famous. With one hit movie comes many sting operations and tabloid headlines. Just ask Rubina Ali and her now infamous father.

Recent reports from a British newspaper have claimed that Rubina's father, Rafiq Qureshi, was willing to sell her for the right price. The paper claims that the father had asked for 20 million rupees and that he was unhappy that the family had not made any money from the smash hit "Slumdog Millionaire". Aside from the numerous "allegations" and "claims" however, there is an obvious lack of true facts and statements. With the given information, only one conclusion can be made, Rafiq Qureshi did accept a meeting with a man who claimed to be from the Middle East but was in fact a reporter. The rest of the story cannot be verified as true or false simply because there isn't enough supporting evidence for either side.

What should be taken away from these recent articles is the fact that Rafiq Qureshi and his family are victims of becoming famous. The whole story itself was created by an operation which "has been employed successfully in the past in sting operations against the rich and famous in Britain". Too often celebrities can be blamed for getting into trouble, but in this case it is easy to see how trouble can seek out celebrities.