'ملف رقم 19/169 IV الإصلاحات في البحرين' [و‎‎٧] (١٢٤/١٣)

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obey all dlroctions givon to them by the police,
that tney vrould bo rosponaiDis if any trouble took
plRC<9 and that no weapons would be carried. Three
of the Dahama matanc abroad to thaao conditions and
appeared on the 10th as usual. The heads of the
Pereian matera and the Bin Rejfib mat ems refused the
conditions and too^ no part in the procea«ion,
proceedir-s ajprajnst 19 persons, T la>irain rubjects,
are now proceeding in the Bahrain Coxirt but the case
is difficult to deal with as owing to the darloiess
and the general confusion it was difficult et the
time for the police to recoj^nise the men who were
most aggressive. Fevoral people seem to have taken
the opportunity to get their own back on others with
whom they were or: bad tanas and the evidence is diffi
cult to disentangle.
Shailchs Mohomed Abdullah and Sulnan have discussed
the matter with me anfl they vould like to" persuade
His Hl&hnesp to obtain a "fatwah" from the Shla Ulema
in Iraq as to the undesirability of Muharram procos-
sions. Amed with this they would forbid all such
processions in future. The leading Bahama however
are seriously disturbed at the prospect of the Sunni
government interfering in what they regard as a reli-
gioue rite. It is being suggested that the whole
affair was staged in order to give the government an
opportunity of curtailing the activities of the Shias,
this is of course entirely untrue.
.
I consider personally that processions at night
through the narrow lanes and alleys in tho middle of
the town are liable to load to trouble but that the
day time procassion under supervision is not liable to
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