Page 201 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

‘Disorder’, political sociability and the urban public sphere 181

the government to open negotiations on a labour law. 81 It is also signifi-

cant that popular mobilisation was initiated with the establishment of

cross-sectarian cooperative institutions (al-mu’assasat al-ta‘awuniyyah)

such as the Drivers’ Association (Jam‘iyyah al-Sawwaqin) which func-

tioned as a compensation bureau and insured drivers for a relatively low

membership fee. 82 Despite preaching new national and class solidarities

to the grass roots, the movement capitalised on traditional networks. With

no committees established at a local level in Manama until 1955, when

branches of the labour federation were established in the inner city,

activists capitalised on personal and family contacts. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-

Bakir had a hard core of supporters in al-Fadhil, his native quarter. ‘Abd

‘Ali al-‘Alawayt, the vociferous Shi‘i trader of al-Mukharaqah who
became a member of the executive committee, liaised with the ma’tams.

Employees of BAPCO coordinated the mobilisation of oil workers
throughout the town, particularly the hot-blooded al-shabab (youths)
who populated the poorest outskirts. 83
Religious institutions and festivals took centre stage in the new political
geography of the city. Like the Communist gatherings in Iraq in the last
years of the monarchy, al-Ha’yah commandeered mosques, houses of
mourning and religious celebrations. As places of encounter between
activists and ordinary people, spaces of religious devotion became the
operational bases of the movement, where competing claims of authority
were made in the name of the direct delegation of power from the grass
roots. After the establishment of the organisation, thousands assembled
in Masjid al-Mu’min, the oldest Shi‘i mosque in Manama, during the
celebration of the fortieth day of mourning for Imam Husayn (al-arba‘in)
and in Masjid al-‘Id, the large Sunni open-air mosque. 84 Gatherings also
underlined the importance of Islam as a unifying factor in the national
struggle. The establishment of al-Hay’ah in October 1954 was preceded
by a meeting in the al-Khamis mosque, the historical symbol of the Islamic
past of Bahrain revered by Sunnis and Shi‘is alike. Leaders delivered
fiery speeches and announced the impending formation of an organised
popular front. Political rallies were carefully orchestrated, emphasising
81
Beiling, ‘Recent Developments in Labor Relations in Bahrayn’, 161.
82
al-Bakir, Min al-Bahrayn, pp. 60–1; Belgrave Diaries, 25 September and 16 October
1954, AWDU; Rumaihi, Bahrain, p. 216.
83
Interviews with Muhammad Ja‘far Muhsin al-‘Arab, Khalifah Ahmad Sulaybikh and
Murad Jasim, Manama, 10, 17 and 18 April 2004; al-Bakir, Min al-Bahrayn, pp. 86–7;
Khuri, Tribe and State in Bahrain, p. 210; Sulaybikh, Hikayat min al-Hurah, pp. 29–30.
84
al-Bakir, Min al-Bahrayn,pp.71–3; Belgrave Diaries, 18 October 1954, AWDU; interview
with ‘Ali Rabi‘a, Manama, 1 April 2004; Khuri, Tribe and State in Bahrayn, pp. 203–4;
Nakash, The Shi‘is of Iraq, p. 161.