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This article attempts to understand how perceptions of Indian Muslims are guided by myths which often masquerade as truths. It looks closely into the institutional discrimination which Muslims in India face both collectively and individually and makes an effort to study the process of the gradual marginalisation of Muslims in Indian public life. It tries to comprehend the crisis of secularism in India. It argues that secularism in India has been a façade to hide animosities, which never went away. Communities continued to distrust each other and Indians had a very limited interaction across communities. Towards the end, it tries to look at some possibilities for the future of India as a truly inclusive society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the manner in which over the past few years, the major political parties in the largest Indian state of Uttar Pradesh have calibrated their policies with the objective of wooing Muslim voters. It examines the factors which shaped Muslim electoral behaviour in the general election of 2014 to the Lok Sabha (Lower House of the Indian Parliament) and how the electoral arithmetic was transformed in the run-up to this election. By analysing institutional, political and intra-community factors, it explores the reasons for the declining importance and representation of Muslims in the electoral arena of Uttar Pradesh. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]