Some members of the Muslim community on Saturday said they have decided to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the “selective” demolition drive launched by the BJP government in the state, under which it has started razing the houses of those who were allegedly involved in the recent violence in Khargone city and a few other places.

Stating that the demolition drive has rendered several people homeless, a Muslim cleric asked why the government was punishing the family members of those who were allegedly involved in the riots.

The state government has launched the drive against “illegal” properties allegedly belonging to those involved in the stone-pelting and other forms of violence that broke out during a Ram Navami procession on April 10. Several Muslim religious leaders in the state have earlier alleged that members of the community were being unfairly targeted by the authorities following the violence, and houses were demolished in some cases without due process.

“I have asked the advocates from our community to move the high court against the selective demolition drive going on in the state. We are certainly going to move the high court against this unilateral drive,” Bhopal Shahar Qazi Syed Mushtaque Ali Nadwi told PTI over phone on Saturday.

When asked how many houses belonging to Muslims have been demolished in Khargone so far, he said that it will be known once the curfew was lifted.

“The society is run by law. A person who commits a crime should be punished, not his family. Why are houses being demolished if one member of a family commits some mistake,” the cleric said, adding that many families were rendered homeless as a result of the government’s drive.

He also said that CCTV cameras are being installed in mosques across the state, especially in Bhopal, having a large population of Muslims after a stone was allegedly thrown at a Ram Navami procession sparked off violence and communal tension in Khargone.

Earlier, Nadwi had told PTI that CCTV footage will show from where stones were thrown during such incidents. He had also said that the demolition of ‘illegal structures’ of those allegedly involved in violence in Khargone was totally wrong.

Earlier this week, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had warned that his government will not spare anyone found indulging in riots and also justified the demolition of ‘illegal structures’ belonging to those allegedly involved in Khargone.

Taking a cue from the MP government, the BJP dispensation in Gujarat also used bulldozers on Friday to remove “illegal” structures as well as some vegetation in Khambhat town where a Ram Navami procession had allegedly come under attack last Sunday./ PTI  

A wave of religious communal violence across India coinciding with a Hindu festival has left at least one person dead, dozens injured, numerous Muslim-owned properties destroyed – and residents bracing for the possibility of further clashes.

“Where will we go now? We have no means to survive or earn a living,” said Abid, 32, whose seventh-generation family home and popular bangle shop in Karauli, in northern India’s Rajasthan, were burned in early April as Hindus rallied in celebration of their New Year.

In the same area, 33-year-old Waheed Khan said his four-decade-old rented shop for embroidery and stitching was also attacked and burned by a mob.

“They destroyed every single thing in my shop, leaving behind rubble,” he said, adding that he now owed his customers, in addition to “losing every penny”.

Khan said that nearly 10 shops, all belonging to Muslims, were torched.

The violence comes at a time of high religious tension in India.

Many Muslims say the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which runs the country under prime minister Narendra Modi, marginaliSes them or tacitly condones discrimination against them – charges the party denies.

In parts of Delhi, recently, Muslim butchers complained of losing income after being forced to close their shops during another Hindu festival.

In Karauli, police have imposed a curfew and are seeking the perpetrators after the worst communal violence the city has seen since India’s independence in 1947.

Shailendra Singh, the police superintendent in Karauli, told Nikkei Asia that so far 30 people “who were part of the violence” had been arrested.

Police have alleged that Hindus taking part in a motorcycle procession were pelted with stones when they rode into a mainly Muslim area.

Meanwhile, Muslim residents say some Hindus “played provocative songs” and tried to attack Muslim religious sites.

“The situation is under control right now,” Singh said.

Other states also saw outbreaks of communal violence during the festival, including Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal.

Witnesses claimed that Hindu processions were used to “harass Muslims”, with some participants carrying sticks and swords, spouting hate speech and attacking property.

Serious riots were reported in the district of Khargone in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, which is governed by the BJP.

Farooq Khan, a Muslim resident, said he came home from evening prayers to find smoke spewing from his house.

“I was numb and shocked,” he said.

“Just one hour ago, I was at home and it was safe. Now my family was pleading for help,” he said.

Nawab Khan, 60, whose grocery store in Khargone was destroyed, said: “They started attacking our shops and houses. When I asked them ‘Why are you doing this?’, they didn’t listen.”

At least 10 houses were set ablaze and dozens of people, including a high-ranking police officer, were injured in the violence in Khargone.

Fearing arrests and more violence in the coming days, some families left their homes in search of somewhere safer.

As in Karauli, Muslims were accused of throwing stones at the new year procession in Khargone – and the authorities appear to have gone after them.

Local Muslims accuse the police of harassment.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP earlier this week said, “The rioters have been identified.”

“Those who have pelted (people with) stones will be punished, but along with it, they will be made to pay for the losses to both public and private properties,” he said.

The punishment, according to local reports, has included bulldozing houses and shops belonging to those who allegedly threw stones at the Hindu revellers.

Around 45 structures have reportedly been demolished by the local authorities, who deemed then “illegal constructions”.

Khargone was also placed under a curfew.

“Instead of arresting the culprits, they are arresting Muslims who were victims in this,” said Nawab Khan.

“They also have started bulldozing our homes.”

Maulana Mahmood Madani, president of Jamiat Ul Ulema Hind, a leading organisation of Islamic scholars, alleged that Muslim-owned properties were being “selectively razed”, and this week asked India’s home minister, Amit Shah, to intervene and stop the harassment of Muslims.

“It is very unfortunate to see that after the outbreak of violence, now the local administration is harassing the minority community,” he said.

“In a selective manner, properties belonging to Muslims are being razed. People are homeless, all of a sudden.”

He asked, “Under which laws are the properties of a suspect of any crime allowed to be demolished?”/ freemalaysiatoday

The British government’s new immigration strategy that would see asylum seekers and refugees being sent to Rwanda could begin in a matter of weeks, according to an official. 

Andrew Griffith, the director of Downing Street’s policy unit, said the prime minister’s new immigration strategy could be up and running by next month or in a few months’ time.

“It doesn’t require new legislation, we think we can do this under the existing conventions. Therefore, this should be possible to be implemented and operationalised in weeks or a small number of months. We are ready to go in that sense,” Griffith said in an interview with BBC’s Newsnight on Thursday.

Griffith’s comments contradict claims made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson Thursday that the new immigration strategy would take some time before coming into effect. It was also understood that the plan would be put to a vote in the House of Commons, the UK parliament.

According to a separate report by The Times newspaper, Johnson is working to have the first flight carrying the refugees and asylum seekers to depart for Rwanda next month, with thousands more being deported in the coming years.

On Thursday, the British premier announced that thousands of asylum seekers and refugees attempting to enter the UK will be sent to Rwanda for reprocessing in an attempt at what he calls gaining back control of the UK’s borders and putting an end to illegal people smuggling across the English Channel.

Johnson’s new plan has been widely criticized as cruel and inhumane and has been denounced by leaders of the main opposition Labour Party as well as from the Liberal Democrat Party and the Scottish National Party.

Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International UK and Refugee Action have also denounced the government for endangering the lives of vulnerable and persecuted people by sending them to a country that is notorious for its human rights abuses./aa

The European Union (EU) could phase out 80% of Russian oil by the year-end and 100% by the end of 2023 with an orderly plan supported by further releases of strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) to fill the supply gap, according to energy experts.

The replacement of around 800,000 barrels per day to the EU via the Druzhba pipeline could pose difficulties given that it directly feeds some refineries in the bloc, experts told Anadolu Agency in a recent interview.

The EU is considering an oil embargo on Russia, the world's largest oil exporter, although views are divided among member countries due to the varying degrees of dependency on Russian oil.

Despite many countries’ reluctance to apply an oil embargo, EU officials are drafting a phased import ban on Russian oil products and negotiations will take place on an embargo after the final round of French elections on April 24, the New York Times reported late Thursday.

An oil embargo on Russia would dramatically cripple its export revenues, as one-third of the Russian federal budget is derived from oil exports, with the EU accounting for a considerable share.

According to Robin Brooks, a chief economist at the Institute of International Finance, oil exports are the main driver of Russia's current account surplus which hit $122 billion in 2021. The surplus is mostly due to oil exports totaling $181 billion, followed by natural gas with $63 billion and coal with $17 billion.

"We would expect to see a more gradual phase-out of Russian volumes from Europe as the likely path, it being essentially the most orderly way to do it for prices and the economy. Obviously, the EU wants to minimize the economic disruption. I do, however, see it as quite likely now that Europe pushes quite hard to reduce its Russian oil imports, only on its own time frame if possible," Neil Crosby, a senior analyst at London-based data company, OilX, said.

According to Primary Vision Network data, the EU imports around 11 million barrels of crude oil and oil products daily from a number of countries, with Russia being the largest.

Germany is the biggest importer in the EU with around 1.67 million barrels per day, Italy follows with 1.31 million, the Netherlands imports 1.26 million and Spain imports 1.22 million barrels per day.

France also has sizable imports of 736,000 barrels, Poland has 619,000 and Belgium imports 590,000 barrels of oil and oil products daily.

Germany is most dependent country on Druzhba pipeline flows

As of January 2022, about 750,000 barrels a day of crude oil was supplied through the Druzhba network, with the majority at 50% destined for Germany, followed by Poland with 16%, Slovakia with 13.5%, Hungary and Slovenia with 11% and Czechia with 9.5%, according to IHS Markit.

With Germany as the largest importer, it is the foremost country against an oil embargo on Russia.

The EU's total crude imports from Russia amounted to about 2.2 million barrels per day and oil products totaled 1.2 million barrels last year. Such quantities mean that Russia accounted for 29% of EU imports in 2021.

The bloc receives about 800,000 barrels of crude oil daily via the Druzhba pipeline, one of the largest crude oil pipeline networks in the world at a total length of 5,500 kilometers including all its branches. The pipeline carries crude oil from Siberia, the Urals and the Caspian Sea, and crosses Belarus where it splits into a northern and a southern branch.

The northern part of the pipeline continues through Belarus to Poland and Germany while the southern branch passes through Ukraine, and continues to Slovakia where it further branches to the Czech Republic and Hungary. The pipeline's current capacity is 1.2-1.4 million barrels a day with the possibility of raising this to 2 million barrels.

"OECD Europe has refinery intake of roughly 11 million barrels a day. It has its own crude production of about some 3 million barrels a day. The remainder is imported. Of this, we have some 800,000 barrels a day of Russian crude flowing via Druzhba which will be difficult to replace initially, and another roughly 1.5 million barrels a day of Russian crude heading to OECD Europe via sea," Crosby said. "So potentially a very large hole in the European balance."

More strategic petroleum reserve releases expected

The other large oil suppliers to Europe last year were Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, North Africa, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the US, Crosby said, adding that these are “quite a mixed slate with all of those listed taking up smaller chunks of between 500,000 or 1 million barrels a day."

According to Eurostat's data for the first semester of 2021, Russia accounted for 24.7% of the EU's oil imports followed by Norway and Kazakhstan with 9.1% and 8.9%, respectively. The US comprised 8.4%, Libya supplied 8.3% and Nigeria held a 6.8% share.

"The options for the bloc to immediately replace Russian oil are in some senses the same as the rest of the world, though crude located closer to home, like the US and West Africa will be favored and with more supplemented by the Middle East in theory," Crosby said.

"Inevitably there will be some losers and some refineries globally will struggle to maintain utilization rates. But there is obviously a willingness to support the economy by the release a lot of crude volumes from SPR. More releases may be expected," he said adding that large SPR releases would help keep refineries running.

Last week, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it is "moving ahead with a collective oil stock release of 120 million barrels, including 60 million barrels contributed by the US as part of its overall draw from its SPR."

West Africa and US could be more favorable import destinations

Mark Rossano, a senior analyst at Primary Network Vision, highlighted the different dynamics of each country in relation to refining capacity.

"For example, Italy can take more Libyan crude to offset their flows from Russia, but they also need to be sure to manage sulfur content resulting in splash blending with the US light/sweet crude," he said.

"Germany is in a tougher spot because of its location and connectivity to Russia. They have increased the purchase of North Sea crude blends to help offset Russian flows,” he added.

However, Rossano noted that the broad phase-out of Russian volumes would be a long and arduous process.

"It will result in a big increase of miles per ton as Europe sources crude from further distances which will also drive up petrol prices," he said.

Europe will revert to increasing crude purchases from the Middle East, West Africa and the US to offset the loss of Russian barrels, Rossano said.

Crosby also noted that the fall in demand, proven by the latest data due to higher prices, could support a gradual phase-out of Russian imports.

Oil prices nudged near $140 per barrel in March with the growth in tension due to the war in Ukraine. International benchmark Brent crude is currently trading at $111 per barrel.

Russia needs to be "creative" to ensure flows

If a full embargo on Russian oil is applied despite misgivings from EU leaders, Russia will lose its biggest oil buyer.

According to IEA data, Russia exported 2.2 million barrels of crude a day to the EU out of a total of 4.7 million barrels, corresponding to 47% of its total crude exports.

Oil products exports to the EU of 1.2 million barrels daily account for 43% of Russia's total oil products exports.

"Russia does not want to risk shutting in production and they only have about 8 days of storage available. They can put more crude in pipeline and offshore storage, both very expensive, or they can provide steep discounts and other incentives to ensure buyers come to market," Rossano said.

Citing the example of India and China, he said India bought almost 500,000 barrels a day of Urals while China was offered waived lines of credit as well as the option to trade in yuans.

"Russia will need to be creative to ensure the barrels continue to flow to clients as insurance and day rates increase in the Black Sea. It will result in an increase in 'miles per ton' as the Black Sea to Asia is not the shortest distance," Rossano noted.

Although Russia may well offer strong discounts going forward to incentivize deals, Crosby thinks that many market players will find it too risky to do deals for quite some time.

"Some extra Russian oil will go to India and China and potentially others, freeing up volumes for the rest of the market, but it will take time and it will probably gradually ramp up," he said, adding that competition will be fierce on the open market and prices would therefore remain supported./aa

More than 900 civilians have been killed in and around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv since Russia waged war, police said on Friday. 

Andrey Nebitov, Kyiv police chief, said during a news conference that more than 900 bodies were found in areas which Ukrainian forces regained control.

He said the biggest death toll was recorded in Bucha, with over 350 bodies found there.

At least 1,982 civilians have been killed and 2,651 injured in Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure believed to be much higher./aa

Turkiye's Foreign Ministry on Friday condemned the killing of seven Palestinians by “Israeli” forces.

"We find it unacceptable and strongly condemn the killing of seven Palestinians, one of them a child, by “Israeli” security forces in different cities in Palestine, especially Jenin, and the intervention of Muslims in Al-Aqsa Mosque for worship this morning, causing injuries," the ministry said in a statement.

"We are deeply concerned about the increasing tensions in the region in recent days," the statement added, reiterating the need to respect the sanctity of Al-Aqsa, especially during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Ankara also extended condolences to the civilians who lost their lives and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

Tensions have been running high across the Palestinian territories since the beginning of April amid repeated “Israeli” raids to arrest “wanted” Palestinians.

Last month, at least 23 Palestinians and 14 “Israelis” were killed in attacks in the West Bank and “Israel”./agencies