As many as 154 prominent citizens, including former judges, bureaucrats, armed forces officers and academics, on Monday said a “false and motivated” campaign was being launched against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with a sinister design to harm the nation.

In a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, they urged the Centre to look into the ongoing protests with all seriousness and safeguard the democratic institutions of the country, and to take stern action against those behind them.

The citizens, including 11 former judges of High Courts, 24 retired IAS officers, 11 former Indian Foreign Service officers, 16 retired IPS and 18 former Lieutenant-Generals, said “fear” was being spread across the length and breadth of India which appeared to be “motivated and with a sinister design” to harm the nation.

They said the campaign was being carried out in a “coordinated manner” leading to violent protests in which public and private property had been destroyed. There had been a “false and nefarious narrative” about the recently enacted legislation such as the CAA, and the idea of the NPR and the NRC.