Khan is one of Bollywood's biggest stars worldwide London – Caroline Kent Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has said he is "extremely safe and happy" in India. His statement came in response to reports that he needs extra security after the publication of his account of how it felt to be a Muslim in India.Khan, who has family roots and a huge fan following in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, said the article had been given an "unwarranted twist" and he could not understand the controversy.
The actor wrote in Outlook Turning Points - published by India's Outlook magazine in association with the New York Times - that he has at time been 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 international star also wrote that he has been "accused of bearing allegiance to our neighbouring nation than my own country - this even though I am an Indian whose father fought for the freedom of India".
Reacting to remarks from Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik requesting that India provide security for the actor, Khan told reporters: "I would like to tell all those who are offering unsolicited advice that we in India are extremely safe and happy. We have an amazing democratic, free and secular way of life. In the environment that we live here in my country India, we have no safety issues regarding life and material. As a matter-of-fact, it is irksome for me to clarify this non-existent issue."
Khan said many people were reacting to his article without reading it. "Ironically, the article... was actually meant to reiterate that on some occasions my being an Indian Muslim film star is misused by bigots and narrow minded people who have misplaced religious ideologies for small gains... and ironically the same has happened through this article... once again," he said.
Khan has appeared in more than 70 films and presented a number TV shows, as well as owning the Kolkata Knight Riders cricket team.