Nothing personal in detaining SRK, says Nirupama Rao

NEW DELHI: Former Indian envoy to the US Nirupama Rao said on Friday Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was detained briefly at the Los Angeles airport on Thursday,

NEW DELHI: Former Indian envoy to the US Nirupama Rao said on Friday Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who was detained briefly at the Los Angeles airport on Thursday, was dealt with according to “set rules and protocols”.

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“The ground level staff, who handle the security, are trained to follow the set rules and protocols. And they usually do just that and don’t make a distinction among various passengers. That is how they are trained. Nor are they expected to know the status of every passenger,” Rao told HT.

“Unless they are forewarned about the arrival of Shah Rukh Khan, the security staff wouldn’t know about his status. There is a difference between the standing a person enjoys in his home country and when he visits the US,” she said.

She added that “unfortunately Muslims have come under greater” scrutiny in the US though she doesn’t think this episode so far smacks of anything like that in this case.