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By / Telegraph India
Central security agencies have been asked to prepare “demographic and economic profiles” of residents of pockets with sizeable Muslim populations along the Pakistan border in Rajasthan, Union home ministry sources told The Telegraph on Monday.
The potentially controversial move, which can trigger charges of religious profiling of Muslims, comes ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and mirrors a similar exercise conducted in Bengal ahead of the 2021 state elections.
“I hope it’s not part of a bigger strategy of polarising people along religious lines ahead of the Assembly polls,” a former joint director of the Intelligence Bureau told this newspaper.
Home ministry sources, however, termed it a “routine exercise” aimed at keeping an eye on radical elements, if any, and activities along the border.
“Such exercises are carried out routinely by the security agencies. The objective is to closely monitor the activities along the sensitive border and to ascertain the presence of radical elements,” a ministry official said.
“This is done strictly from a security point of view and one should not read too much into this.”
The official declined comment when asked whether such an exercise was being conducted also in Hindu-dominated pockets near the borders.
This story was originally published in telegraphindia.com . Read the full story here