By Clarion India
NEW DELHI – Muslims in the ranks and file of police forces have fallen to the lowest levels for the first time as India completed 77 years of Independence, according to data revealed in a new book Muslims in India – Ground Reality Verses Fake Narratives – Achievements & Accomplishments.
Socio-economically, Muslims have remained at a significant disadvantage in their presence in governance and administrative domains even nearly two decades after Delhi High Court’s former Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar’s startling report pointed out Muslims lagging behind upper caste Hindus, SCs, and STs.
The high-powered Dr Gopal Singh committee talked in 1983 about the “gross underrepresentation” of Muslims in civil and police services across the country, except for slightly better spots in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. The panel spoke about a “sense of alienation” in the community and called for “restructuring” reservations in government services for the largest minority community, accounting for about 14.2 per cent of the country’s population or about 172.2 million people as the Census 2011. The community’s wide-ranging economic, educational, and social challenges, miseries, and deprivations have multiplied. The report by Justice Ranganath Mishra in 2007 also completely dispelled the notion that Muslims, the biggest of the six religious minorities in the world’s most populous country, have been progressing and prospering like other communities.
The world’s third-largest Muslim population on the planet has been facing socially disturbing developments like lynching, hate crimes, and socio-economic discrimination at frequencies never seen before since Independence. Over 10,000 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in 6,933 instances of communal violence between 1954 and 1982. Over 7,484 communal incidents have been reported between 2008 and 2017 – or two every day, killing over 1,100 people. Between 2014 and 2020, a record 2.76-plus lakh cases of rioting have taken place across the country. Besides facing negligent, corrupt, and communal elements in the police forces, Muslims also face a shortage of their community’s increasingly lesser representation in the police and para-military services.
Data speaks volumes about the present scenario.
As per the Civil Lists for 2023, there are only 151 Muslims among 4344 Indian Police Service (IPS) officials in service. Nineteen Muslims are among 252 India Railways Protection Force Service (RPF) officials and there are only three Muslims among 248 officials of Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli (DANIPS) Police Service. Pondicherry Police Service has only one Muslim among its 47 officials.
This story was originally published in clarionindia.net. Read the full story here.