Page 60 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

46 Records of Bahrain

fine, Four other Shias received sentences of one month,
as did the three Sunni, The latter were boys whose
squabble started the riot, but who were clearly not to
blame for the serious turn it took, The Shia had come
up on purpose from a neighbouring village to join in Ihe
i.
fight. It was therefore no doubt right that the Shia pU
W- *—*
should be punished considerably more heavily than the
Sunni though the actual sentences given may possibly be
regarded as over-severe.

3, In considering the events which followed it
must be borne in mind that, after the riots at the time^^o
of Muharram last year, (my despatch No. 99 of October 13
1953), there was a delay of nine months in bringing to
trial the Sunni who had, to general knowledge, made an
unprovoked attaok on the Shia village of Arad, and that
a few days before June 30 a Shia had been sentenced to
i
a year»s imprisonment for voluntarily causing hurt to a
Sunni who had unfortunately fallen dead, presumably
from a heart attack, when pushed by the Shia in the
course of a market place argument at1 Muharraq. It has
also to be considered that while Sir' Charles Delgrave
often sits on the bench, (and is sometimes criticised

for doing so while being at the same time Commandant of
Police) the other judges are all members of the al
Khalifah family and therefore Sunni.: While therefore in
the Sitra case a somewhat heavy handed justice may in
fact have been done, if was inevitable that in the eyes
of the Shias it should not manifestly have been seen
to be done.
4. When the sentences were announced re was

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