Aligarh, India — For Zakia Wali, Eid will forever be a sorrowful period. She states that the Muslim holiday will now remind her of the brutal lynching of her elder brother, Mohammad Fareed, in their lifelong hometown.

“We couldn't perform a proper ghusl due to his condition,” recounted Wali, speaking from her home in Aligarh. “We couldn’t even count his injuries. From now on, Eid signifies mourning.”

Fareed, a maker of tandoori rotis at local eateries, was returning home the day after Eid when he was besieged by a group of Hindu extremists.

Over a dozen men, armed with wooden sticks and iron rods, dragged the 35-year-old Fareed along the street, beating him to death while bystanders recorded the atrocity on their phones.

Aligarh, a city of 1.2 million in Uttar Pradesh, is governed by the Hindu-centric Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Modi. Under his ten-year rule, violence against Muslims has surged alarmingly.

On June 4, after the BJP's surprising national majority loss in India's massive election, opposition parties hailed the outcome as a win for democratic and secular ideals. Analysts anticipated this would temper the extremism within Hindu hardliner factions. However, the recent wave of anti-Muslim violence dispels this optimism.

Homes of suspected beef holders were demolished, three men were tortured and killed on a highway, and a hospital was vandalized. These incidents were united by the victims' faith.

Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a political scientist at New Delhi’s Ashoka University, critiqued the naive post-election analyses.

“Reading the election results as a victory for secularism is incorrect,” Mahmudabad said, referring to the low number of Muslims elected to parliament. He predicts increased anti-Muslim violence as a diversion from India’s pressing issues like unemployment and inflation.

A protest … to defend the mob

Mohammad Zaki was alerted to his brother Fareed’s assault by neighbors. He expressed fear that the attackers were part of their community, describing them as "thirsty for Muslim blood."

Zaki revealed that a passerby had reported the attack to the police, but Fareed died before reaching the hospital.

Aligarh police are investigating the lynching and have arrested six people, charging them with murder, but haven't confirmed the motive. The accused claim Fareed was a thief, a claim denied by his family and friends.

Following the arrests, the BJP and associated far-right groups protested, demanding the release of the accused. Influential BJP leader Shakuntala Bharti defended the arrests, emphasizing the region's aggressive stance.

Wali, Fareed’s sister, deems the alleged crime irrelevant, questioning why her brother was brutally killed instead of being handed over to the police. She now focuses on caring for their paralytic mother, lamenting the loss of Fareed’s support.

Wali noted a significant shift in their community’s trust, stating festivals celebrated with Hindu neighbors a decade ago now evoke terror.

“Eid, our major festival, will forever remind me of my brother’s sacrifice,” Wali stated.

‘Deafening silence’

Javed Qureshi’s photograph of an animal carcass sparked mob violence in Nahan town of Himachal Pradesh. Despite a later police finding that the animal was not a cow, Qureshi was arrested for “hurting religious sentiments.”

APCR national secretary Nadeem Khan highlighted the opposition's silence on anti-Muslim attacks, criticizing Congress for aligning with soft Hindutva.

Khan indicated that Gandhi’s promises have fallen short, emphasizing the disenfranchisement of the Muslim community through political silence.

Al Jazeera’s inquiries to BJP officials regarding anti-Muslim violence concerns were met with no response.

A known mob

In Madhya Pradesh, authorities demolished the homes of 11 Muslim families over beef possession suspicions. Even hospitals are unsafe, as seen in an attack in Medak, Telangana. Dr. Surender Reddy’s hospital was vandalized after treating injured Muslims involved in a clash over 40 oxen for Eid sacrifice.

Some attackers later apologized to Reddy, while Telangana police arrested 36 individuals, including 13 BJP members.

Nadeem Khan of APCR suggested the violence is a reaction to the electoral outcome, reinforcing Hindu extremist groups' message of continued dominance. He expressed the profound insecurity felt by Muslims in India.

“There is no value in a Muslim’s life today,” Khan stated, highlighting the escalating second-class citizenship for Muslims in India.