PZ 5013/40 'Propaganda among Shi'ite communities in Iraq and Persia' [‎4r] (7/196)

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Dear Department,
Bagdad.
10th March 1942.
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With reference to you!
E 710/160/65 of the 12th February we enclose herein a
copy of a despatch which was sent to the Government of
India last December on the subject of the visit to
Iraq of Maulvi Mohammad Bashir.
We did not then send the Foreign Orfice a
copy as we did not know that the Maulvi’s report
would be passed to you.
We take this opportunity to point out that
it is more difficult to report on a visit by one of*
these divines than it is to report on a tour made by
a personage such as 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 Bahawalpur.
The divines eschew all contact with the
] Embassy and insist that any suspicion of their having
! come to work on behalf of His Majesty’s Government is
i ; fatal to their usefulness; they work furtively and
in dark places. 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 Bahawalpur however
openly declared that his desire and purpose was to do
all he could directly to help the British war effort.
In these circumstances we have to rely much
on hearsay for knowledge of what the divines do
whereas the comings and goings of the Rajahs and
Nawabs can be seen by all.
Yours ever,
CHANCERY.
EASTERN DEPARTMENT,
FOREIGN OFFICE.