• In Maharashtra, the percentage of Muslim jail inmates in all categories (see chart) is way above their share in the population (Muslim share in population is 10.6%, share in the total prison inmates is 32.4%.

• When it comes to those in prison for less than a year, Muslims contribute 40.6% of all prisoners in Maharashtra.

• In Gujarat, the percentage of Muslims in the state is just 9.06% but they make up over a quarter of all jail inmates.

• Assam, the second highest Muslim populated state in the country, after J&K, has 30.9% Muslims, and here, the percentage of Muslim jail inmates is 28.1.

• Even Karnataka, which did relatively better than other states in providing jobs to Muslims, shows the same trend: 17.5% of its jail inmates are Muslim as compared with 12.23% of its population.

The debate over these numbers is a complex one. Says Prakash Singh, the former Director General of the Border Security Force and whose PIL prompted the Supreme Court to press for police reforms last month: “There is unjust suspicion against the police. In cases of terror attacks or communal riots, if the police goes after the perpetrators of the violence, and they happen to be mostly Muslim, you cannot, in the name of secularism, expect the police to act in proportion to their population.”

Others say poverty is one main factor behind this trend. According to the Sachar committee findings, the poverty level in Muslims in urban areas is as high as 44% compared to the national figure of 28%.

... contd.