New Delhi: Recent weeks may have witnessed his 'Indiannesss' being questioned after his statement favouring inclusion of Pakistani players in the Indian Premier League but Bollywood Superstar and the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders Shahrukh Khan says he is proud to be an Indian.

''I think I have been a good Indian. As good as any Indian next door is. I work hard. I pay my taxes. I don't think the Indian part of it should ever be questionable for you or for me.

It has to be very clear that everybody's ideology in this country is India first and everything else - our religion, our state, our region - all will be the second subset of our country. I have no qualms saying that the country comes first and the other ideologies comes second whether it is my religious ideology whether it is the state that I belong to,'' Shahrukh Khan said in an interview to CNN IBN last night.

Terming allegations of his being a traitor as ''completely untrue, uncalled for and unreal'', Shahrukh said he felt hurt by such statements.

''Yes, I feel hurt. I don't deny that. I feel hurt because I have got little children and I had a fantastic parentage. Many times I feel that whatever I do as an actor, as a person XYZ, but as an Indian, I should make sure that when I die and meet my parents, they should have been very proud of me being a proper Indian as they would have wanted and I also feel that whatever I do should teach my children to be the same.

So, sometimes when I hear and read things like this, it is very hurtful. It also saddens me that some people I know calling me traitor or non-Indian.

Notwithstanding the allegations, the actor, whose next film 'My Name Is Khan' will release Worldwide this Friday, said he was proud to be an Indian.

''My Indian-ness will not be taken away from me or change my mind towards that come what may. I can just die for this country. There is nothing that can change about me. And I am very proud of it and I would also like to believe that I have made a few Indians proud of the things that I have done in this country and the opportunity given to me by this country and this city and the city I was born in,''the actor said.

Replying to a question, the Bollywood Superstar said he stuck to what he said about having Pakistani players in the IPL.

''What was said was as a free thinking Indian. I think sports, arts and culture should be untouched by politics and I think we blame a group of people or a Nation for the acts of some of them.

I am just hearing in the news that even the Australians are now allowed to be play. My question was: In the Commonwealth (games), aren't all the nations coming here to play? If they are, then I guess it stands even in the field of arts and culture. I think it should be untainted, removed far away from any other such aspect, which are not (related to) political or physical problems in terms of Nations. So, I stand by that completely,'' Shahrukh said.