After 'mini Pakistan' controversy, Firhad Hakim denies comments to Pak newspaper

BJP has alleged that a state minister and Trinamool Congress leader Firhad Hakim has described a part of Kolkata port area as "mini Pakistan" in an interview to Pakistan daily 'Dawn' and demanded an explanation, even as Hakim denied having made such comment.

"How can a minister say such things? We demand an explanation from both Mr Firhad Hakim and also Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee," BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said. When contacted Hakim told PTI he never made such comment.

"The Pakistani journalist came along with a journalist of a local Bengali daily. She only asked me that this place looks like Karachi of Pakistan. I did not make any comment. She spoke to me about my election campaign. I answered those questions. That's all," he said.

According to an article in Dawn, a journalist of the newspaper who was in Kolkata few days back, spoke to Hakim during his campaign trail in Muslim-dominated Kolkata port area and it was during this interview that he termed the part of Kolkata port area as "Mini Pakistan".