• 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.

• In Delhi, where Muslims make up 11.7% of the population, they constitute 29.1% of those in jail for less than a year.

Says former bureaucrat and now Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah; “This data should have been included. They may have their reasons for excluding it but to see the story of the Indian Muslim and the problems faced by the community in totality, it should have formed part of the report.”

For, several experts raised questions about the implications of the data. While some, like former BSF DGP Prakash Singh, whose PIL has prompted police reforms, suggested that the data did not reflect a prejudiced police, others have said that this is linked to the Muslims’ high poverty level — 44% for urban Muslims as compared to the national figure of 28% — and the lack of opportunities, including access to legal aid.