'ملف رقم 19/165 III (C 24) الإصلاحات في البحرين' [ظ‎‎٨‎٠] (٤٢٦/١٦٥)

the fust t\\o punishments only the nonnahwork of the district, tlie numbers bein 0 '
by no means excessn e, and us regards the third punisiiment it has been inflicted spar-
mgly, only some half dozen or so deportations having been made and each case has
been reported to Government and sanction obtained in advance in all cases except
one. Xo innocent subjects have been punished nor any persons without " in
quiry or trial. By k ' abolition of all courts except one " it is presumed the
, Shailvh means all courts except the Consular Court; if so he omits to mention that the
only courts existing befor the Reforms were the Shara ' Courts, the Majlis el "Urfi
the 8a] if ah Court, the Consular Court and the Joint Court, and these all exist to-day
excey t the Salifah Court which is in abeyance from inanition, &s no one desires to
go before it as no justice can be obtained—its suspension however dat^d from before
the reforms : more a n«- court in the show of Shaikh Hamad's Court has
^ en .r^ u , rated wLlch 18 very wel1 mana g e d and is greatly resorted to by litigants.
i ^I'aikhJiiw e\"'r hy courts possibly refers to the ' Majlis " M'hich every Shaikh
and bhaikhling had : these were not courts but im,sponsible vehicles of oppression
every Shaikh fining, imprisoning and expropriating the rayats (Shiahs only bien
evtendu) at his own sweet will. " Replacement of Manama Police, etc." means
.tin i? stitution of Police in Manama in place of a few inefficient " naturs " (night-
watchmen)^ It is true that most of the police are Persians and thus foreigners
b At this is simply because the local Arabs will not enlist as there is too much work
to do In point of fact when the Police force was instituted every m mber of
the Majlis was asked to produce some men from tin community he represented.
J he 1 ersians and Bahreinis did so, but the Arais could not get any men to enlist!
* My son Hamad a youth, etc." Shaikh Hamad admits to about 45 years and by
appearance is at least 50, and has been doing a good part of the administration for
two or three years before the reforms. This sentence is typical of the amount of
truth in the statement made, and it is hoped that it is unnecessary to comment
on all the rhetorical nonsense in this and many ojbher paragraphs.
7. The ' corgress of the aristocracy, etc." consisted solely of a few Surmi
pearling nakhudas and was in point of fact attended l^y very few persons except
the signatories to the egregious manifesto which with the convening of the so-called
congress was the work of Abdul Wahab Zayani. It is worthy of note that even
of the few signatories too told Shaikh Hamad they were compelled to sign one
decrepit old gentleman saying that his hand was actually held and made to
write the name by force ! A report on all this however was submitted to Gov
ernment under cover of Bushire Residency letters Nos. 602-S., and 622-S dated
27th October and 10th November 1923. (Serial Nos. 208 and 225 in Pile
iso. 480-X.).
8. As the memorial was submitted to Colonel Trevor immediately on his
rf turn from leave obviously in the hope that the policy inaugurated by Colonel
j \nox would be reversed, it was necessary to disabuse the signatories at once or
such a hope, but the telegram does not appear to be minatory and insultine:'
the English version is forwarded herewith. . *
The telegram was sent on 26th October and acknowledged by Major Daly on
27th October (c/. enclosure of Serial No. 208 ibid). The Dowasir migrated about
loth November though they had been threatening to do so for months past
llie actual reason for their departure was because they had been fined Rs 15 000
at the suggestion of Colonel Knox for the brutal murder of a number" of'the
fehiah inhabitants of the village of Ali including women and also of two Shiah
ijlema m the immediate neighbourhood of their principal village. The money
recovered as a fine was paid as compensation to the heirs of the killed • the tribe
thus got off without any punishment for the dastardly outrages they had
committed. • j & j "■
9 and 10. Ihe presentation of the petition and the proceedings alluded to
have been fully reported in Bushire letter No. 622-S, dated 10th November
] J2,i (Serial No. 225 in Hie No. 480-X.). The two persons were deported at
the urgent request of Shaikh Hamad, and they were informed personally hv
tbe j ohtical Agent by the direction of the Political Resident of the reason for
their deportation.
. 11 : A bdul Wahab Zayani *5id Ahmed bin Lahej were removed at the request
ot onaikn Hamad and the proceedings were described in Bushire letter No 62 4 2-^
dated 10t]i November 1923 (Pro. No. 225 ibid). " * *'