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meeting was held that included Shuckburgh, Burrows, Wall, and Sheikh Salman in

his palace in Riffa. The conversation initially dealt with British support for the

Administration in Bahrain in light of recent events. Shuckburgh urged the Ruler to

reach out to the general public and use the radio and press to achieve this. He also

advocated pushing the Administration towards further reform of the judiciary and

commended the Ruler for his appointment of a Judicial Adviser. Shuckburgh was

informed according to his diary, although he did not name his source, that the Ruler

believed that the British were ‘supporting the agitators against him’. Belgrave later

met with Shuckburgh and had a personal discussion vis-à-vis local affairs.

Shuckburgh said that any crackdown on the agitators by Britain would be seen as

interference in the state’s domestic affairs. The Under-Secretary encouraged the

Administration to improve its public security forces. He also urged the Adviser to

publish a pro-government newspaper and he noted in his diary the possibility of

publishing ‘a British-subsidised newspaper’ for the entire Gulf region similar to the

Iraq Times with Bahrain as its headquarters. However, his suggestion was not made

to Belgrave at the time. 246

The HEC announced the formation of a new ‘box’, a fund to support the Party

by collecting subscriptions. The ‘box’ was named the National Savings Fund. 247 The

HEC continued to hold meetings by taking advantage of Muslim celebrations to

generate the largest possible crowds, and this time the Prophet Mohammed’s

birthday was chosen. The anniversary fell on 8 November and the gathering was

246 University of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Special Collections: Papers of Sir Evelyn
Shuckburgh, GB 150 MS 191, MS191/1/2/3, from 6 to 7 November 1954, 80-84.
247 TNA, FO 1016/309, ‘To the struggling Bahra’ni People’, The Higher Executive Committee, 2
November 1954.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 80