Not aware of it: Mamata Banerjee on Firhad Hakim's controversial 'spread Islam among non-Muslims' remark

When asked for a response by a reporter during her press meet with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Mamata was miffed by the question.

Initially she called Hakim's remark as an individual's opinion. "Doesn't matter. It is his own opinion," she said.

When the Chief Minister was asked whether she supports the remark, Mamata said she had no knowledge of it.

"I haven't come across the statement..," she said and added, "I don't follow what everyone says on a daily basis. If someone brings to my knowledge, I will only then be able to comment on it."

"I cannot reply without going through the remark. I haven't come across it," the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

Hakim, who is also a senior minister of the Mamata Banerjee government, has sparked a row by giving a call to spread Islam to the "unfortunate" people, who are not born into the religion.

Hakim reportedly said this at an event which took place at an event in Kolkata's Dhano Dhanyo Auditorium on July 3.

In a viral video, Hakim, a senior TMC leader, was heard saying, "People who were not born into Islam are unfortunate. We have to spread Islam to them."

"Thousands of Islamic people sitting together with skullcaps show our unity," said Kolkata's first Mayor from the Islam community, leading others on the dais to chant "Inshallah, inshallah".

Slamming TMC for the "appeasement politics", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT Cell head Amit Malviya posted on X, "The TMC's penchant for extreme appeasement politics in West Bengal is an open secret. The party’s relentless appeasement politics has paid off, as evident from the successive electoral victories and subsequent post poll violence, which have emboldened the TMC, making it more audacious and haughty than ever. The brazen act of publicly flogging a woman by TMC’s JCB in a manner akin to Sharia Court punishment and the reprehensible defense by TMC’s Chopra MLA, Hamidur Rahman, asserting such actions are typical in a ‘Muslim Rashtra,’ have already incited a political maelstrom and bears the testament to the TMC’s ‘underlying agenda’.

"Now, TMC heavyweight and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim openly acknowledged this ‘underlying agenda’, by brazenly advocating the conversion of ‘ill-fated non-Muslims’ to Islam to ostensibly please ‘Allah’. These flagrant incidents portend an ominous future, where the TMC’s policy of appeasement will intensify, heralding a day not far off when West Bengal is wholly converted into a ‘Muslim Rashtra’ under ‘Didi’s Anuprerona (inspiration).’"

Hakim, a close confidante of Mamata Banerjee, had sparked a similar row in 2016 when he referred to the Muslim-dominated Garden Reach area "mini Pakistan" speaking to a reporter from Pakistan media outlet Dawn.

Defending himself, Hakim had later said, "I didn't say so but she (the reporter) was here to cover my campaign. She told me that 'it looks like the lanes of Karachi". I told her 'you feel like home'. There is nothing wrong with that."