We do not track caste, religion, say IAF, Navy

On the proposed surveying of Muslims in the armed forces, Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash, who is also chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, indicated today that the Navy kept no record of the force’s religious composition.

‘‘We do not take cognisance of things like this. We maintain no such statistics,’’ Admiral Prakash said this morning on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the National Maritime Foundation. ‘‘When asked to produce such information, we have ways and means of procuring it within the force, but by ourselves we do not keep a record,’’

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi also agreed: ‘‘Come what may, the armed forces are secular. And we do not keep any track of such information.’’