The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government (2004–14) led by the Congress came to power with a radical agenda for religious minorities. This included legislation and policies against discrimination and disadvantages suffered by religious minorities, especially Muslims, and a new framework for delivering substantive equality of opportunity. This work offers a new interpretation of the UPA's record. In critically re-evaluating the UPA's performance, it uses an institutional policy analysis approach which combines historical institutionalism (and path dependence) with policy analysis. It draws on official sources and extensive interviews with elite administrators and policy makers who were at the core of decision making during the UPA's tenure in office. Detailed case studies are provided of Muslims in public sector employment, the provision of service delivery for Muslim communities in India, and the efforts to create a new legislative framework against communal violence.

Heewon Kim is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Religions and Philosophies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Prior to this, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisation, The Aga Khan University, London. Her research explores the comparative study of religious and ethnic minorities, multiculturalism and equal opportunities in Europe, South Asia, South Korea and Japan.