against being so vocal," Fatima says. "But none of us thought we would have to pay for it like this." Javed Mohammad's family has questioned the administration's logic for demolishing their house. The Prayagraj Development Authority has said that it had served a notice for illegal construction to Javed Mohammad on 10 May, asking him to appear before it on 24 May. But his son Umam denied this, saying the family did not receive any notice until the night before the house was demolished. "Moreover, the land is in my mother's name - it was a gift from our grandfather. All our water bills and tax records would come in my mother's name. But the notice was served in my father's name," he says. Govind Mathur, a former chief justice of the Allahabad high court, told the BBC that the authorities' actions were "highly unjust". "Even if there was some error in construction which went beyond the sanctioned plan, authorities could have charged a fine under the state municipal laws," he says. "At the very least, they could've have given the family a chance to explain themselves." Ali says that the demolitions are meant to strike fear in Muslims. "The message is for the whole of Muslim civil society of the state to stop pressing for their civil and political rights," he says. The razing has had a visible effect on Javed's neighbors. Kareli, where the house was located, is usually a bustling area. It's largely populated by Muslims but a few Hindu families also live there. On an ordinary day, the gridlocked streets emit a mix of noisy, vibrant sights and sounds — vendors chewing tobacco, cows curled against doorways and shops doing brisk business as motorcycles zigzag through the crowd. But a day after the demolition, there was silence and a palpable sense of fear. Several residents refused to speak, saying they feared retribution if they spoke their mind. Many were afraid to step out, their voices dropping to a whisper at the sight of strangers. A neighbor who didn't want to be named remembered how proud Javed was of his house, constantly making improvements to it. Another man, who also didn't want to be identified, said he wanted to know why Muslim homes were being targeted for alleged illegal construction. "Hundreds of properties in the city will lack proper documentation if one does a survey," he said. "You can't go around breaking down all of them - then the city will look like a ghost town." For Fatima's family, the pain has been multiplied by a sense of injustice. Just weeks ago, she and her brother say, they celebrated the festival of Eid al-Fitr, "when the house was enveloped in happiness". "You did not just break a house, you broke a family," Fatima says. "And a part of us is buried in the rubble."