Terrorism in Mumbai

Yesterday I watched the press screening of Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's extraordinary tale of brutalised Mumbai street children. The brilliance of the cinematography was powerful, its violence intense and shocking. It told the tale of two Muslim children orphaned by riots, one of whom then goes on to win 'Who wants a millionaire,' so that he can win his childhood sweetheart.

A bomb exploded in a suitcase in the Taj Mahal hotel yesterday, where I might have been to do a travel piece on Mumbai to link in with the film. Terrorists attacked seven different locations in the city in an attack that is said to have been modelled on the Al Qaida attacks, but was actually carried out by the Deccan Mujahedeen, a formerly unknown militant Indian Islamic splinter group.

The press release invited me to, 'travel to Mumbai with Real Holidays and see sights and sounds from the film, ...[staying] at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers, Bombay’s most famous building and ...[enjoying] onyx columns, hand-woven silk carpets, crystal chandeliers, a magnificent art collection and a dramatic cantilevered stairway.

Instead, because of a delay in commissioning by some of my editors, I found myself in the Soho screening rooms.

Watch Slumdog Millionaire (out January 9th) to understand something of the real Mumbai. My thoughts and prayers go out to that city now. As for me, I am so deeply deeply grateful that I was not at the Taj Mahal. There but for the grace of God.

Baby P and the trial by media

With the rest of the country I am grieving the death of Baby P. Here I am in Haringey, looking out at the lights of the borough. My fingers are inches from clicking on the Sun's petition that 'ALL the social workers involved in the case of Baby P, including Sharon Shoesmith, Maria Ward and Gillie Christou... and that the doctor and health visitor involved with Baby P, Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat and Paulette Thomas, should also lose their jobs.'

I have already written to my MP demanding that she see that the correct people be dismissed without payouts.

But this is becoming a trial by media, and that is very, very wrong. We do not know exactly which social workers failed Baby P. Clearly somebody did. But I think we have to wait for the enquiry to do its job, not allow the sun to conduct a trial of its own. Otherwise we risk making Haringey social services even worse than they are already.

The horrible thought crosses my mind: How many other children are suffering and being abused here, not far from my house? What have we done to this society? What is this monster lurking at the foot of the hill? At the end of the day I suspect that the Sun are probably right. How could any decent social worker have allowed this to happen?