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rooftops also participated in the action. Sixty people in total were reportedly

injured. 139

Wall, the British Political Agent, offered in a account forwarded to the

Residency an illustration of the events on that day based on a British eyewitness

named as ‘Mr. Wallace’ who claimed from his viewpoint that a member of the

procession got into an altercation with the spectators threatening them and ‘starting

excitement among the crowd’. Before any further developments took place, the

police intervened to arrest the agitator and peace was restored. Nonetheless, a

group of Shi’ites appeared determined to free the accused agitator; consequently,

control of the crowd was lost. During the imbroglio some of the demonstrators

headed towards the Political Agency’s headquarters and the Agency’s guards fired

shots in the air to disperse the approaching crowd, according to the Bahrain

Government Annual Report. Wall, however, claimed uncertainty as to who first

fired the shots, whether it was the police or the Political Agency’s guards. Later,

according to the Political Agent, ‘Peace was finally restored during lunchtime

following the arrival of police reinforcements headed by Belgrave personally’. 140

Tensions between the two sects continued well into the following day.

Rumours spread amongst both communities as stories were carried of clashes

between the two groups. One of the rumours that spread was an attack by the

Baharna of Arad village on Sunnis in Muharraq. Sunnis were determined to march

139 ‘Government of Bahrain Annual Report for Year 1954 (September 1953-December 1954)’, in The
Bahrain Government Annual Reports 1924-1956, vol. V 1952-1956, ed. R.L. Jarman, (Buckinghamshire:
1986), 1-105 (47).
140 FO 371/104263, Wall to Burrows, 6 October 1953; and ‘Government of Bahrain Annual Report for
Year 1954 (September 1953-December 1954)’, 1-105 (47).

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