Guwahati: Assam Minister Pijush Hazarika on Thursday claimed that the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) had begun prior to the direct recruitment exam and was an effort to delay these candidates.
Addressing a press conference in Dispur, Pijush Hazarika said, “Everyone is free to have their own beliefs and strive toward it. All individuals opposed to CAA have their own opinions, just as we do. We appreciate other people’s opinions, but I implore them not to discourage the Assamese people by disseminating false information.”
He continued by citing a few instances from the day the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed as an Act in 2019, claiming that false information was spreading online.
“A fake news was spread over WhatsApp on that day (10 December, 2019) saying 2.5 crore Hindu Bangladeshis will enter Assam on the same day the bill was passed as an act. And these people would take a truck to Upper Assam to seize the properties. However, neither that day nor any subsequent days saw anything of the type, he claimed.
He asserted that the CAA makes no mention of the entry of millions of Hindu Bangladeshis. This is being circulated as fake news.
Hazarika further advised people not to distribute such false information in an effort to harm Assam or the Assamese people.
The examinations for direct hiring will take place on August 21, August 28, and September 11. A recruitment exam will be held in Assam’s 25 districts for close to 30,000 grade III and IV positions. The number of applicants likely to take the examinations is 14 lakhs.