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Other companies in Bahrain, such as the trading house Gray Mackenzie, were

also attacked in the nationalist press. Gray Mackenzie was accused of offering

financial bonuses only to its non-Bahraini employees. 173 The British Overseas

Airways Corporation (BOAC) also suffered its share of attacks when it was accused

‘of bringing the largest amount of Indians to this island’, awarding them with jobs as

drivers, a profession in which Bahrainis can easily be recruited instead, Al-Qafilah

proclaimed. 174

Meetings between Sunnis and Shi’ites to bring about a détente were

underway, according to Al-Bakir. The only source available for these meetings is Al-

Bakir’s memoir; hence caution must be exercised as we lack supporting evidence.

Al-Bakir said that, by May 1954, efforts were being made to agree on official political

representation from both communities following his return to Bahrain from

Lebanon. The initial arrangement consisted of seven Sunnis who planned to reach

out to the Shi’ite community. The Sunnis included: Abdulla Al-Zain, Yusuf Al-Saie,

Abdul-Rahman Abdul-Ghaffar, Abdul-Aziz Al-Shamlan, Ali Al-Wazzan, and Al-Bakir

himself. A contact with a representative from the Shi’ites was made and an

arrangement to meet for the first time was made. The meeting was conducted at

Hassan Al-Aradi’s house in Ras Al-Ru’man in Manama on 7 May. From the Shi’ite

side the following attended: Al-Sayed Ali bin Ebrahim Kamal-el-Deen, Mohsin Al-

Tajir, Abd-Ali Al-Alaiwat, Abdulla Abu Dheeb, Abdulla Abu Hindi, and Hassan Al-

Aradi. The first meeting brought little progress but a second meeting was scheduled

173 H. Rahma and Abdul-Sahib and N. BaHiji, ‘Shakwa thid Sharikat Gray Mackenzie’ [A Complaint
against the Company Gray Mackenzie], Al-Qafilah, 12 November 1954, 1.
174 Mim. Ain., ‘Al-B.O.A.C Tatahada’ [The B.O.A.C.’s Challenge], Al-Qafilah, 5 June 1953, 3.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 56