Only 4.81% Muslims in Paramilitary Forces

There are 8.86 lakh persons working in the paramilitary forces in India. Of these, Muslims constitute only 4.81%. The minorities put together (taking Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis also) constitute 9.98%. The Border Security Force has 2.44 lakh persons, Central Reserve Police (CRPF) 2.84 lakh, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) 2.84 lakh, Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 76,157, Assam Rifles 65,780. The number of minority women working in these forces is even more dismal, i.e., 2,240. These figures were given by Mr. Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in a reply to a question by Ghulam Rasul Baliyavi, MP from Bihar.
Commenting on the Minister’s reply in the Rajya Sabha, Deccan Herald wrote: While adequate numbers of minorities’ personnel will not by themselves instill confidence among the people””the actual conduct of the forces and their neutrality in a situation of conflict is far more important-an inclusive paramiliatary force does play a role in moulding perceptions. More minority women in the decision-making ranks will enhance the capacity of the paramiliatary forces to deal with sensitive gender issues within the organization in in troubled civil unrest situations. (Deccan Herald editorial, dt. August 15, 2014).