Naturally scared': India's Muslims denied public spaces for Eid prayers

Muslim worshippers in Maliyana village prepare for Eid al-Adha prayers while focusing on practical constraints such as roads, barricades, police permissions, and the exact location and timing of prayers. Mosque management instructs attendees not to gather outside mosque gates, to wait for the next prayer shift if the mosque fills, and to avoid arguments, videos, and responses to provocations. Local police advisories circulating through WhatsApp urge Muslims to refrain from public prayers. The village has a history of communal violence, including a 1987 massacre of Muslims. Ongoing protests by right-wing Hindu groups have targeted public Muslim prayers on Fridays and festivals, citing traffic and security concerns, and disruptions have involved groups and some politicians.

"The mood is barely festive as a group of Muslim men huddle inside a small mosque to discuss the arrangements for Eid al-Adha prayers in Meerut district of India's Uttar Pradesh state. Ceiling fans hum above to beat the brutal north Indian heat as nearly 50 worshippers listen to the members of the mosque management committee in Maliyana village, about 80km (50 miles) from New Delhi, the national capital. The conversation is not about sacrificial animals or charity, but a more pressing issue before them: roads, barricades, police permissions, and where and how exactly they would offer the Eid prayers on Thursday."

"Please don't gather outside the mosque gates, instructs a member. If the mosque fills up, wait for the next prayer shift. Avoid arguments. Avoid videos. Don't respond to provocations. Men in the audience silently nod. Some scroll through WhatsApp groups where local police advisories have already begun circulating, urging Muslims to refrain from public prayers. Others in the audience exchange worried glances."

"Maliyana has a history. In May 1987, 72 Muslims were massacred here by a mob of Hindu locals and personnel belonging to the state government's Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC). After 36 years of hearings, a district court in 2023 acquitted dozens of the accused over insufficient evidence. But the concerns that prompted the mosque committee and worshippers there to review their Eid plans are more recent."

"For more than a decade now, right-wing Hindu groups, emboldened by the election of Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi as India's prime minister in 2014, have been protesting against Muslims offering public prayers on Fridays and festivals against alleged traffic and security concerns. These groups, and even politicians from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have disrupted namaz on"

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