Mamata's minister Jyotipriyo Mullick backtracks on his comments on CPM

NEW DELHI | KOLKATA: West Bengal food supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick has asked Trinamool workers to "boycott" CPM workers and "learn to hate them".

"Don't eat with them, don't sit with them. You all should learn to hate them. Until and unless you learn to hate them you won't be able to take revenge," Mullick had said at a function on Monday.

However, on Tuesday, after facing severe criticism for his comments, he backtracked and alleged his statement has been tampered with. "My statement has been tampered. I have never asked party workers to socially boycott CPM.

And that day I was wearing a trouser and a shirt, but the video footage showed that I had worn a kurta and pyjama. The footage has been doctored and tampered," he said.

A section of intellectuals opposed Mullick's statement and stated it would only promote violence in the state. "Such statements are unacceptable. Political beliefs should not prove as a hurdle in social mixing. Otherwise, it will trigger civil war," said Tilottama Majumdar, a writer.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), on Tuesday, has sought a report from the Kolkata police chief about the recent cartoon controversy and arrest of Jadavpur University professor Ambikesh Mahapatra, who had circulated an "anti-Mamata Banerjee cartoon" to his friends on the Net. The Commission has asked police chief Ranjit Kumar Panchnanda to submit his report within a fortnight.

A member of the Commission, Narayan Sil, admitted that WBHRC is seeking a report from the city police chief, but refused to divulge the content of the letter. "You have to talk to the chairman of the Commission, Ashok Ganguly, to get details about this. I can tell you that the Commission has made some queries about the recent happenings over the cartoon controversy," Sil told ET when contacted.