BBC hindi
Nafees says his son Bilal, who died in Sunday's violence, was innocent
Two days after deadly violence in Sambhal left four dead and many injured, the city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh remains gripped by tensions.
The violence erupted on Sunday during a court-ordered investigation into the centuries-old Shahi Jama Masjid (mosque), which some Hindu groups say was built on the site of a destroyed temple.
Police said the mostly Muslim protesters threw stones at them and fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd. According to them, 20 police officers were injured.
But family members of the four Muslim men who died on Sunday claimed they were shot by police – a charge police denied.
Authorities say the situation is now under control, but large numbers of police and paramilitaries are deployed around the mosque and throughout the rest of the city.
The streets are eerily silent, strewn with stones and strewn with traces of ash where vehicles have been set on fire.
Local authorities have imposed a ban on foreigners, social activists and politicians entering the city until December 1. Internet services were suspended and schools were closed.
Police registered seven cases linked to the violence and at least 25 people were arrested.
On Monday, BBC Hindi met the grieving families of the men killed in the violence.
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Police officials say situation in Sambhal is now calm
In the Tabela Kot region, Idro Ghazi continues to experience inconsolable mourning. His 34-year-old son, Naeem Ghazi, was among the dead.
Her son, she explained, was not part of the protest and had gone to the market to buy oil. He was surrounded and shot dead near the mosque, she said.
Despite her grief, the devastated mother decided not to press charges against the police.
“We don’t have the courage to fight the police and the government,” she said, her voice heavy with sadness.
About two kilometers away, in the Baghicha Sarayatrin settlement, a silent crowd had gathered outside a mosque. Nafees, who lost his son Bilal, 22, in the violence, sat on the steps with his head bowed.
His son, he said, had gone shopping for clothes when he was killed. “The police shot him in the chest,” he said.
The police denied the allegations. A senior police official, Muniraj G, told BBC Hindi that police did not open fire on the crowd during the violence.
Sambhal police have filed cases against more than 2,700 people, including local MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq, from the regional opposition Samajwadi Party. They accuse him of provoking the demonstrators.
Barq strongly denied any involvement and said he was in Bangalore attending a meeting at the time of the violence. As proof, he showed the BBC Hindi team his plane tickets.
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The police have filed complaints against more than 2,700 people in connection with this violence.
Opposition parties in the state have criticized the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government for trying to polarize the population along religious lines.
A politician from the main opposition Congress party, Tauqeer Ahmed, said people were so scared they did not even want to talk about the deaths of the four men.
Akhilesh Yadav, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Barq's party leader, accused state officials of “orchestrating the riot” – a charge they deny.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Yadav also questioned the urgency of conducting an investigation at the mosque.
The controversy over the Shahi Jama Masjid mosque is the latest in a series of disputes involving mosques across India, where Hindu groups have claimed Muslim rulers destroyed temples to build them.
Tensions in the city first erupted on November 19, when a local court ordered a study of the mosque site after a petition claimed the 16th-century mosque was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple. Hours after the court order, Uttar Pradesh authorities began investigating.
Sunday's investigation, which took place five days after the first, turned violent when a large group of protesters gathered near the mosque and began shouting slogans at the investigation team.
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