Shah Rukh Khan waves during the unveiling of TOIFA Bollywood awards in Mumbai, India. —Photo by AP
Shah Rukh Khan waves during the unveiling of TOIFA Bollywood awards in Mumbai, India. —Photo by AP

MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has insisted he is “safe and happy” in India in a bid to end a controversy sparked by an article he wrote on being Muslim in the Hindu-majority country.

The piece led Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik to say that India should provide Khan with security. India's Home Secretary R.K. Singh responded curtly that Pakistan should look after its own citizens.

Reading out a lengthy statement to journalists late on Tuesday, Khan said his piece in the magazine Outlook Turning Points had taken an “unwarranted twist”.

“Nowhere does the article state or imply directly or indirectly that I feel unsafe, troubled or disturbed in India,” he said.

In the magazine piece, he wrote that he sometimes became “the inadvertent object of political leaders who choose to make me a symbol of all that they think is wrong and unpatriotic about Muslims in India”.

The Indian actor said he had occasionally been accused of bearing allegiance to Muslim-majority Pakistan, and had been urged by leaders at political rallies to leave India and return to what they called his “original homeland”.

Khan has been targeted by the Shiv Sena, a far-right Hindu nationalist party headquartered in Mumbai that has often pushed an anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim agenda.

The Shiv Sena threatened cinemas showing his 2010 film ‘My Name is Khan’ after he spoke in favour of Pakistani cricketers playing in the Indian Premier League.

On Tuesday, Khan said it was “irksome” to have to clarify the “non-existent” issue sparked by his recent article.

“I would like to tell all those who are offering me unsolicited advice that we in India are extremely safe and happy. We have an amazing democratic, free and secular way of life.”

Khan emerged last week at the top of Forbes India's first Celebrity 100 list, based on income and popularity, after he raked in an estimated 37.7 million dollars last year.

Opinion

Editorial

IMF’s projections
Updated 18 Apr, 2024

IMF’s projections

The problems are well-known and the country is aware of what is needed to stabilise the economy; the challenge is follow-through and implementation.
Hepatitis crisis
18 Apr, 2024

Hepatitis crisis

THE sheer scale of the crisis is staggering. A new WHO report flags Pakistan as the country with the highest number...
Never-ending suffering
18 Apr, 2024

Never-ending suffering

OVER the weekend, the world witnessed an intense spectacle when Iran launched its drone-and-missile barrage against...
Saudi FM’s visit
Updated 17 Apr, 2024

Saudi FM’s visit

The government of Shehbaz Sharif will have to manage a delicate balancing act with Pakistan’s traditional Saudi allies and its Iranian neighbours.
Dharna inquiry
17 Apr, 2024

Dharna inquiry

THE Supreme Court-sanctioned inquiry into the infamous Faizabad dharna of 2017 has turned out to be a damp squib. A...
Future energy
17 Apr, 2024

Future energy

PRIME MINISTER Shehbaz Sharif’s recent directive to the energy sector to curtail Pakistan’s staggering $27bn oil...