File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎214r] (425/450)

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APPRECIATION OF THE ATTACHED ARAB REPORT.
No. ] (New Series).
As the present Report rs cast in a somewhat different form to that hitherto adopted
a cursory study of the paper as a whole is recommended, as it will give an indication
of the system, which it is proposed to adhere to in future, and will make reference
easier m forthcoming numbers.
In the general situation there is little or no change since the issue of Report
AaIIa, dated loth July.
The mention of the fact that a post has been stopped between Medina and Syria
suggests that some of the Northern Bedawin may have begun to 'co-operate with the
The reception of the news in various parts of the Mohammedan world is generally
satisfactory. The Indian situation, according to the latest telegrams, appears to be
calming down after a certain amount of effervescence in pro-Turkish literary and
journalistic circles. It is interesting to note that the Central National Mohammedan
Association (composed chiefly of government officials) reserved its opinion on the
situation, and that the Indian Ulema were rebuked by the Sadaqalz newspaper of
Calcutta for not condemning the Sherif; since the Ulema were rebuked, it may be
assumed that they^ also reserved their opinion; thus we have officials ’and regular
ecclesiastics adopting a less hostile line to the movement than the ordinary
representatives of political pro-Turkism in India. This, if Islam in India has any
resemblance to Islam m other parts of the world, is a natural consequence. The
Committee of Union and Progress devotes its attention to, and recruits its adepts
from, the disaffected, discontented, and progressive unemployed of literary professions
who hope that the overthrow of the existing system may enable them to obtain offices
and emoluments which are under existing circumstances beyond their grasp • the
more stable elements of a community are generally left alone or prove less susceptible
to the propaganda of the Committee of Union and Progress which cannot hold out to
them similar hopes of reward.
In previous reports it has already been noticed that the leading Mohammedan
rulers, such as the N izam, the Begum Courteous or formal title for (usually Muslim) women of elite status, especially of Turko-Mongol lineage. of Bhopal, and the Nawab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. of Tonk have not
expressed the same irritation at the Sheriff action as those sections of the press
which represent the views of the All India Moslem League and the Khudam-i-Ka’aba.
The news from Kabul is still meagre, the condemnation of the Sherif’s action may
be attributed to the steady stream of Teuto-Turkish propaganda which has been
directed against Afghanistan since the beginning of the war. The Committee of
Union and Progress methods in Afghanistan are different to those followed in India.
In Afghanistan the appeal is to ignorance and fanaticism in distinction to the anneal
to “ Intellect ” and “ Progress ” in India. PP
S 316 30—7/1916