McGrath, I've just been talking to a (non-practising) Sikh acquaintance in London. He reckoned a gurdwara was probably the most likely setting for a mother to approach a third party in seeking "a suitable boy" for her daughter. Apparently a gurdwara is a community centre anyway, in that it will typically be a drop-in centre, open to all, where rough sleepers for instance might get a square meal, have a chat or just get warmed up. To argue that rape and murder could never happen in such a place would be ridiculous.

So even if you can't tune into the setting's relevance to concepts like trust and authority, the argument would seem to be against you even on the level of simple practicalities. In terms of the former, however, it should be noted that many young Sikhs have rallied to the playwright's support. Clearly the play has struck a chord with some in the Sikh community.

I hesitate to lure you down from the fence to which you've so resolutely nailed your colours, McG, but I wonder whose fault you think it is that Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti is now in hiding: hers, or the mob's? And to go back to what The Shambles said, is there really nothing you've written yourself that you'd hold out for, even in the face of threatened violence?