Gujarat tops states in number of Muslim policemen

The Times of India: New Delhi: Monday, November 12, 2012.

Gujarat, which faced one of the worst anti-Muslim riots in the country barely 10 years ago, has emerged as the state with the largest number of Muslim cops posted in police stations, beating states with a higher proportion of the community in their population.

The data, shared by the home ministry in response to an RTI query filed by TOI, shows that 10.6% of Gujarat's cops posted in police stations are Muslims. This is higher than the proportion of Muslims in the state's population, which is 9.1% (2001 census).

The state has 5,021 cops from the community out of a total of 47,424 in its 501 police stations. On an average, Gujarat has 10 Muslim cops per police station higher than any other state which shared data with the Centre.

The trend comes to light at a time when most states have failed to implement a key recommendation of the Sachar Committee report, suggesting that more Muslim cops be in police stations to build confidence among the community.

Assam and Kerala, home to a much larger chunk of Muslims, have a higher percentage of the community in their police forces. But Gujarat has higher number of Muslim cops. Along with Odisha, it is the only state where the percentage of Muslims in the police force is higher than in the general population.

The list includes 17 states and six Union Territories (UTs) and leaves out states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh (where Muslim population is 10% or more), which did not share data with the home ministry despite several reminders.

Gujarat has 5,021 Muslim police personnel in its 501 police stations compared to 2,210 Muslim cops in 451 police stations in Kerala, 2,048 in 525 police stations in West Bengal, 930 in 773 police stations in Rajasthan and 616 in 417 police stations in Jharkhand.

Absence of data from 11 states and one UT (Puducherry) may spare them from being scrutinized at this juncture by the Centre but not sharing figures of Muslim cops may itself raise a question mark over these states' commitment to implement the Sachar committee recommendations.

TOI had sought information under the transparency law in the context of the home ministry's missive to states reminding them about implementing Sachar panel's recommendations on posting a minimum of one Muslim inspector or sub-inspector in police stations which catered to a sizeable number of the minority community. This, the committee said, should be done "not eliminate discrimination but as an initiative to build confidence".

The ministry also sought details of action taken by the states in this regard on a half-yearly basis.

The Sachar committee, constituted on March 9, 2005 under the chairmanship of Justice Rajinder Sachar to prepare a comprehensive report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India, had submitted its findings in November 2006.