Muslims in Indian Armed Forces

The Government of India is pushing for a survey to find out the the number of Muslims in the Armed Forces. The well thought Rediff article questions this survey and suggests that it is politically motivated. It defends the secular nature of the Army and makes the reasonable point that there are other ethnic minorities who are also underrepresented (like Telugus and Gujaratis). The article also comes out strongly in defending the secular culture within the army, citing examples such as the Army's relatively blemishless record or dealing with communal riots fairly, and its attempts to foster cross religious respect and understanding through construction of "combined prayer halls, called Sarva Dharma Sthal" where all religions are represented.

As a matter of fact, this issue was brought up more than 2 years ago by Frontline. In its typically well researched article, Frontline concludes that there is infact under-representation of Muslims, but that communal recruitment is not the answer.

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