ملف ٧٠٥/١٩١٦ الجزء ٢ "انتفاضة عربية: التقارير العربية؛ تقارير السير م. سايكس" [ظ‎‎١‎٨‎٥] (٤٥٠/٣٦٨)

.* .
m
28 )
do not possess the confidence or command the support of the influential members of
the Mohammedan community. When, therefore, the League passes such a resolution
as it has just issued it is expedient to ask by whom it was proposed and who were
present when it was carried. Without these particulars it is safe to surmise that the
President met the Secretary or the Secretary conferred with himself and that the
imposing resolution merely means that a handful of persons deemed it desirable to
declare their disapproval of the Grand Sherif. There can be very little doubt that
this is precisely what happened. Committees are not easy to assemble in this country
on short notice, and in point of fact there was no time to obtain a representative
gathering to approve the protest sent forth in the name of the All-India Moslem
League. The ease with which resolutions can be manufactured and circulated is seen
in the case of the pronouncement which professes to come from the Moslems of this
city. Calcutta Mussulmans, it was stated in the resolution, assembled under the
presidency of a most reverend imam, had united in denouncing the Arabian rebels.
Inquiries showed that Calcutta Mussulmans had been in blissful ignorance of the great
gathering at which they were supposed to have been present. What actually happened
was that a private meeting was. held in someone’s house. It is alleged that fifty
persons were present, but fifteen would probably have been a liberal estimate. From
this hole-and-corner caucus issued the pronouncement which claimed, with gross
impertinence, to express the views of Calcutta Mohammedans. From one investigated
case may be deduced the character of the other protests, and the Government of India
would be well advised, before allowing more resolutions from Mohammedan gatherings
to be telegraphed all over the country, to take steps to ascertain whether they are
what they profess to be. Genuine Mohammedan opinion is entitled to the highest
respect, and will always be treated by Government with full consideration. But there
is no reason why the lynx-eyed censors should sanction the transmission over the State
telegraphs of mischievous-fabrications which misrepresent Mohammedan feeliim. The
significance of the resolutions, regarded as expressions of Mohammedan opinion, is
probably less than nothing. But the framers ot these missives have some motive for
their action. That they are really concerned for the Holy Places seems improbable.
Doubtless there are many conservative Moslems who contemplate with keen regret the
misfortunes of modern Turkey, though brought on by herself, and who lament the
troubles of the Sultan. The resolutions, however, do not proceed from this respectable
class. They come from the politicians, and, this fact being remembered, it is difficult
to avoid the suspicion that they have two objects, to create a hostile feeling against
the Government of India and to express sympathy with the Young Turks. The
announcement that a rebellion had occurred in the Hejaz came from the Government
of India, and it was couched in terms which implied that the Government were not
ill-pleased to learn that the Grand Sherif was in revolt. The impression thus cdven
may not have been intended, but the ordinary reader would certainly derive the
conviction that the Indian Government looked upon the action of the Grand Sherif
with approval. Whether it was wise or necessary for the Government to announce
what had happened in the Hejaz is a question on which opinions will differ. So far as
can be seen, there was no reason- why the news should not have been disseminated
through the usual channels, in which case the attitude of the Government of India
towards the rising would not have been defined in any way. Bightly or wrongly,
however, the news was officially communicated, and in-a form which conveyed a plain
intimation of official opinion. The agitators have cleverly utilised this fact and, while
they ostensibly denounce the Grand Sherif of Mecca, they are fully aware that they
are in reality condemning the Government of India. It is clear also that, by protesting
against the rebellion of the Grand Sherif, they are implicitly proclaiming sympathy
with Enver Pasha and his motley band of Germanised Turks. They dare not openly
profess their support of the enemies of Great Britain, but they think it safe to express
their real views under the mask of anxietv for the Holv Places.
4
-