'File 9/4 Bahrain Reforms. Introduction of Reforms in Bahrain' [‎43r] (102/224)

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On the 10th I thought it advisable to ask for a gunboat, to steady the situation
and aliaj the panic 01 tne 1 ersians who were clamouring for protection The Per'
sians continued to press me for a statement of the action I was taking to urotect
them, so I again wired on 11th to ascertain whether a gunboat could be smred
No reply was received that day. ^
On 12th I visited the town three times. It was quiet, but Naidis were still
walking about armed with daggers and sticks, which the fidawis of the Shaiks
were afraid to take from them. Throughout the proceedings no single arrest was
effected Pending definite news of a gunboat, I ordered the Persians to remain
in their houses and rtf^ain from opening their shops. On the afternoon of the
12th news ot the approaching arrival of gunboats was received, and at once had a
good effect. Qosaibi was evidently frightened, as it was reported that he was
making eftorts to get Sunm leaders to sign a memorial on his behalf to Shaik Easa.
In discussing the situation with Shaik Selman, the latter expressed the opinion
that the arrest of fe Qosaibi would be a good thing and wanted me to carry it out.
When asked why none of the Shaiks would remonstrate with Qosaibi, let alone
arrest him, he admitted that as Bin Saud's Agent, they were afraid to deal with him.
I pointed out that although I decided cases in which foreigneis were concerned, the
arrest of persons responsible for, or inducing, breaches of the peace, was the duty of
the local Government. It was apparent that he wished me to order the arrest, thus
enabling the Shaik to excuse themselves to Bin Saud that it was done under
pressure from the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . In my opinion such action, since at that time there was"
no gunboat, was best left alone. In an interview with Shaik Hamad the latter
expressed, in confidence, his opinion that Qosaibi had planned the outbreak and
had been preparing the Najdis for some days for it.
My own opinion is, that if he did not actually prepare the outbreak, his action
in regard to the watch episode which undoubtedly started the disturbance, was
equally cu'pable.
Statement of Mr. J. B. Mack ie of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.
On Thursday, 10th, when the fracas between the Najdis and Persians oc
curred, I was in my house, next to the Customs. I heard a crowd of people rush
ing past and a lot of shouting ; one of the servants told me that a row had'started
and the Persians were out to kill a Najdi. The servant himself was a Najdi. 1
took no notice until the disturbance increased. On going to the window I saw
some 30 or 40 people running about collecting sticks and running off towards the
Customs House. For the moment the disturbance near my house died down but
shouting then began from the direction of the bazaar and in a minute or two the
d sturbance again increased and a bedy of 50 or 60 people-armed with lathis
appeared on the Customs pier. These were Arabs and th^y set about belabouring
such Persian coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory. as th ;y could find. I saw th^m beat one man almost to
death in the water in front of my house and arioth r one on the Customs jetty.
Seeing this going on I went round to Yusuf Kanoo's office to find out what was
jjeally happening. I found the bazaar full of Arabs, shouting and carrying lathis.
Inside Yusuf Kanoo's office was a Persian who had been badly knocked about,
a id who had, I was told, been rescued from the crowd by Yusuf Kanoo and his
nophew Ahmed. There was a big crowd of Arabs outside the office of Qosaibi
and a dead Persian was lying at Qosaibi's door. Qosaibi was nowhere to be seen.
I had just b( gun to make enquiries as to what was happening and had been in
formed that the row began as the result of an altercation betwe n Abdulla Qosaibi
and Mohamed Sherif arising out of the theft of a watch from Qosaibi which had
been found in the possession of a Persian. Having got thus far I noticed that
the crowd began to disperse as quickly as it could and saw the reason for this
sudden dispersal was the arrival of the Politica]|Agent in his car, and later, on the
arrival of the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. guard the crowd dispersed entirely. I then accompanied
the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. around the bazaar. In the bazaar we found two dead Persians
and one dead Arab, while on the Customs je tty and in boats tied up to the jetty
we found two Persians and one Arab so badly beaten about that their recovery
appeared improbable. Throughout the whole of this disturbance, I only actually
saw one man with firearms and he was firing powde r. He was a Najdi. Ball
ammunition, however, was being fired in the bazaar when the fight was in progress.
"While going through the bazaar we collected any lathis w£ saw.
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