Sambhal, March 28 -- Kot Garvi in Sambhal, a Muslim-majority city in western Uttar Pradesh, is eerily quiet. Eid is around the corner but there is little sign of the all-night preparations or public festivities.

Ayesha Bano, a 45-year-old widow, clutches a photo of her son Naeem, killed in the clashes. "He went to see what was happening at the masjid," she said. "The police deny shooting, but I saw the hole in his chest." In neighbourhoods such as Hindpura and Nakhasa, such stories echo. Mohammad Shoaib, 28, mourns his brother Bilal. "They fired on us. Now they call us rioters. Eid feels like a funeral."

Nearly four months after the violent clashes of November 24, 2024, sparked by a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid over cla...