Akshay Kumar breaks silence over Canadian citizenship, says it's 'non-political, personal' matter

Amid questions being raised over his citizenship status, particularly over his absence from the polling booths, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar on Friday admitted to holding a Canadian passport.

“Really don’t understand unwarranted interest and negativity about my citizenship. I have never hidden or denied that I hold a Canadian passport. It is also equally true that I have not visited Canada in the last seven years. I work in India, and pay all my taxes in India,” Akshay tweeted his statement.

“While all these years, I have never needed to prove my love for India to anyone, I find it disappointing that my citizenship issue is constantly dragged into needless controversy, a matter that is personal, legal, non-political, and of no consequence to others,” he added.

Akshay’s citizenship status has been a topic debate over the past few days with many on social media claiming that he holds a Canadian citizenship rather than an Indian one.

The debate gained pace after the hero of films like "Kesari", "Toilet Ek Prem Katha" and "Airlift" which had nationalistic overtones, gave voting a miss on April 29.

His actor-author wife Twinkle Khanna cast vote at a booth in Juhu on Monday, but Akshay wasn't seen with her.

Kumar was in news only a few days ago with his "non-political" interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.