New Delhi: JD(U) general secretary Pavan Varma on Sunday asked party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to categorically reject the "divisive CAA-NPR-NRC scheme", saying this has "nefarious agenda to divide India and create a great deal of unnecessary social turbulence".
In an open letter to Kumar, Varma expressed his surprise at the "unilateral" announcement of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, who is from the BJP, that the National Population Register exercise will be carried out in the state between May 15-28 despite Kumar's stand against the National Register of Citizens. "In consonance with your own publicly stated views, and long established secular vision, may I request you now to take a principled stand against the CAA-NPR-NRC scheme, and reject its nefarious agenda to divide India and create a great deal of unnecessary social turbulence.
"A clear cut public statement by you to this effect would be a major step towards preserving and strengthening the idea of India to which, I know, you yourself are committed. The politics of principle cannot be sacrificed at the altar of short term political gain," Varma said in the letter.
The JD(U) leader has been critical of his party's decision to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, and it has now become a law following its passage in both Houses. Protests have occurred in different parts of the country against the law, which seeks to give citizenship to minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who had arrived in India due to religious persecution by December 31, 2014.