Impossible to provide proof of religious persecution under CAA: Assam Min Himanta Biswa

Amid anti-CAA protest in Assam, state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that it is impossible for the person to go back to Bangladesh and collect a copy of police report to show the proof of religious persecution.

"If a person has to prove it then he has to go to Bangladesh and collect a copy of the police report. Why would the police station in Bangladesh give that proof? So, said that it is not possible to prove the concept of religious persecution under the Citizenship Amendment Act," Sarma, who is also a BJP leader, told media on being asked about his recent statement on CAA over religious persecution.

Earlier, the Assam Finance Minister had said that religious persecution cannot be a criterion for CAA, asking "how can an applicant prove that he is a victim of religious persecution or that he has fled his country of origin and entered India owing to fear of religious persecution."

Protests broke out in different parts of the country, including Assam against CAA which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians facing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

People of Assam have been demanding the central government to take back the CAA.