'NCB has a zero conviction record'

'NCB is eager to prove its relevance.'
'But picking on Shah Rukh Khan's son seems as if he is being made the poster boy of the NCB's relevance.'

Calling the lack of solidarity for Shah Rukh Khan in his hour of need "deplorable", the tirelessly outspoken Shatrughan Sinha condemns attempts to pull down Shah Rukh's reputation by proving him a careless father.

"They are pulling out clips from a 20-year-old interview where Shah Rukh is clearly being jokey," Sinha tells Subhash K Jha. "I don't know Shah Rukh that well. But I do know he is a good father."

"All those who are now condemning him for spoiling his son should look homewards to see if their own children are doing exactly the right thing all the time."

"When you are young, you are reckless. No amount of parental monitoring can stop your child from doing what he or she wants to. I've been through that phase of youthful defiance and I know monitoring my children's every move will make them rebellious," Sinha, the father of twin sons and a daughter, adds.

"The best way to deal with the defiant streak in your children is to tell them what is right and wrong and then let them be. I think Shah Rukh has done that."

The former BJP MP, who is now a part of the Congress, feels the backlash against Shah Rukh is pre-motivated.

There are people out there who are waiting to make an example out of people in the limelight. It's almost as if they get a sadistic pleasure in seeing celebrities suffer," he says.

"I believe Shah Rukh's son Aryan is a well-behaved disciplined boy. I am not saying he should be treated specially because of who he is. But please don't make an example of him just because of he is. Let the laws of the land take their course," Sinha, who served as health minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet, says.

"Why are we putting the boy through a media trial? Don't hold his privileged upbringing against him."

Sinha also wonders about the enthusiasm being shown by the Narcotics Control Bureau. "They have a zero conviction record and they are eager to prove their relevance. I understand that. And I wish them all success," he says.

"But picking on Shah Rukh Khan's son seems as if he is being made the poster boy of the NCB's relevance."