Recently, actor Akshay Kumar was embroiled in a controversy when it was made public that he has not cast a vote during the ongoing elections as he is a Canadian passport holder.
Apolitical Akshay Kumar's angry reaction when a reporter asked him reason for not casting his vote. pic.twitter.com/tlycPwWmDh
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 1, 2019
Many people took to Twitter to comment on the same, stating that while the actor may take up patriotic movies, his interests are not for the nation.
Farzi patriotism @akshaykumar
— Samarth Kagdiyal (@SamarthKagdiyal) May 1, 2019
He is a Canadian citizen, posing as a desh Bhakt, desh ka cement, namaskar India, but citizenship Canada ki. Sychophant
— Niti Sapru (@sapru_niti) May 1, 2019
Akshay Kumar has now released a statement responding to the criticism. He states that while he has never hidden the truth about his citizenship, he has continued to work in India, pay due taxes, and contribute to the nation’s growth.
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 3, 2019
He further added that it was disappointing that a ‘personal matter’ was dragged in a ‘needless controversy’.
However, in 2017 he had shared with Times Now that he was an ‘honorary citizen’ of Canada.
I am an honorary citizen of Canada. I think people should be proud of: @akshaykumar #AkshayOnTheNewshour pic.twitter.com/GB2qTz18eB
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 11, 2017
His past statement also drew flak from people, who called him out for presenting contradictory facts.
The issue is of obfuscation of facts. Were you ever given 'honorary' citizenship of Canada as you'd stated in an interview? Now it seems like you've chosen to be a Canadian citizen with nothing 'honorary' about it. Did you lie in your interview? https://t.co/ZGr0bBRR7P
— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) May 3, 2019
Dear @akshaykumar you are a Canadian citizen don’t think Canada has given you “honorary” citizenship https://t.co/U4JPur0uVL
— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) May 3, 2019
While it may have brewed up an online controversy, technically there have been no legal or political proceedings against the actor.
