Says former bureaucrat and now Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah: “The higher numbers of Muslims in jails is also a reflection of the fact that Muslims are poorer generally and are more likely to get picked on by the police because they are easy prey due to fewer entitlements. Prejudice against them also exists but gets compounded because of their poverty.”

For former member of Parliament Syed Shahabuddin, who is also president of Muslim organisation Majlis-e-Mushawarat, there is a parallel here between Muslims in India and African Americans in the United States.

“Muslims are very well represented in marginal professions, like cinema and the media, and also in goonda-gardi, as they have no openings in formal jobs,” he says.

“What are they supposed to do? They, therefore, end up in police stations more frequently and get involved in things they should not be involved in. It’s like the African-Americans in the US. Their proportionate share in jails is much more than their population share. With less opportunities, crime is a vocation.”

Shahabuddin also attributes the high Muslim prison figures to what he calls bias in the police and the inaccessibility to legal aid. “The belief that Muslims are terrorists is only a product of the anti-Muslim bias the police have. If Muslims are involved, they pick up ten in place of one. Invariably, they make arrests when not necessary, and eventually, they cannot prove the cases.”