NEW DELHI: The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (AIMMM) on Wednesday said it was "shocked but not surprised'' that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance have criticised the collection of data about the level of representation of Muslims in the armed forces.

Countering the BJP's charge that enumeration by religion is per se divisive, the AIMMM pointed out that the decennial census of India classifies the national population by religion. The Central Statistical Organisation also publishes socio-economic data by religion. ``If the BJP objection is taken to its logical conclusion, this should be stopped,'' said AIMMM President Syed Shahabuddin.

He wanted to know why the BJP and its allies wished to conceal the lopsided composition of the armed forces from public scrutiny and whether they considered soldiering to be the monopoly of any particular region or groups. The AIMMM said it was the right and duty of the Muslims to bear arms for their country and hoped that if the data collected by the Sachar Committee revealed gross under-representation of the community in the armed forces, it would make suitable recommendations for raising its level of participation along with that of all the deprived groups and regions in the defence services. It felt that due and appropriate representation of all religious groups and regions of the country as in the Central Reserve Police Force should reinforce the secular and pan-Indian character of the armed forces.

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