GFP leader quits Goa govt body to protest against CAA

Goa Forward Party (GFP) leader Ashma Sayed said on Wednesday that she had resigned as vice- chairman of the State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The GFP was part of the BJP-led Goa government till July 2019 when its ministers were dropped from the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet.

The party is still part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Sayed, who heads the GFP's women wing, announced her decision on Twitter.

"I have resigned as vice chairman, Goa State Minorities Finance and Development Corporation as a mark of protest against #CAA," she tweeted. The CAA, which came into effect on January 10, grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015 on account of religious persecution.

Massive protests have erupted against the CAA since its passage by Parliament in December last year. The GFP has been opposed to the amended Act..