New Delhi: NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday termed the linking of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) as ‘most unfortunate’ and that it is aimed at creating fear among the people.

The Act, which seeks to provide citizenship on preferential basis to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities fleeing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014, has sparked numerous protests across the country.

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He tweeted the following.

It is most unfortunate that there has been a conscious & organized effort by some to connect the #CAA with #NRC at a future date. This has been done to create fear & vulnerability among the people. This is eminently avoidable. #CitizenshipAmendmentAct #CitizenshipAmendmentBill — Rajiv Kumar 🇮🇳 (@RajivKumar1) December 17, 2019

At a public meeting in Jharkhand during an election rally on December 2, home minister Amit Shah said he has set 2024 as the “deadline” for implementing the NRC across the country.