Barred from truth

That the Sachar committee, as reported last Saturday in this newspaper, had decided to censor some of its own findings 8212; on incarceration figures for Muslims 8212; indicates that at some level its members must have misunderstood their remit. Tasked to credibly quantify the Muslim social condition, it was not for the committee to decide that some parts of the story were too stark to be told. Had this newspaper not published significant parts of the Sachar report before it was submitted to the prime minister, it is possible no one would have been wiser. That would have represented a significant failure on part of the committee. Which is why the government must insist that it receives the full report.

That Muslims in many states are over-represented in the jail population is a crucial part of the story the committee was asked to tell. The disproportionality has many dimensions, lack of jobs and skills being one of the most important. Therefore, if the committee8217;s self-censorship was motivated by some notion of political correctness, it needs to be pointed out that it has ended up being politically incorrect: trying to hide data that is probably the sharpest reminder of the need for Muslim social reform. But it is hard to understand why such a notion of political correctness should have been relevant in the first place. Other democracies have studied minority social conditions, and prison population figures have not been considered too sensitive for public discussion. Incarceration figures often serve as the departure point for public and policy debates on African-American social progress. US minority community leaders do not consider such analyses offensive. Undoubtedly the same would have applied to India.

The misguided bowdlerisation is, of course, the second misstep by the Sachar committee. The first, reported in this newspaper, was its attempt to count Muslims in armed forces. As we had argued then this would have harmed the one institution that has been truly non-denominational. The committee and the government had backed off then. The government must now instruct the committee to back off 8212; a censored report will damage the credibility of the whole exercise. And since Parliament will read the report, there8217;s also the question of MPs8217; right to know the whole truth.