Page 9 - Begrave Thesis_Neat

‘established law thus preventing subjugation and exploitation’, commented Bahraini

writer and poet Hassan Kamal.
3

His contributions were overshadowed, inter alia, by his centralisation of

power, the public’s demand for reform, the rise of regional nationalist powers (in

particular Egypt’s Free Officers’ Movement), and the exploitation of nationalists by

the major powers during the Cold War. These global factors fed into a local political

crisis in Bahrain. The nationalist movement that had arisen in Bahrain came to be

known as the Higher Executive Committee, later renamed as the National Union

Committee (or Committee of National Union). The Party is colloquially known in

Bahrain as Al-Hay’eh (The Committee). The Movement offered a short-lived political

modus vivendi between Muslim Sunnis and Shi’ites.

The fond memories that some in Bahrain held of the Adviser turned into

anger aimed against him and Britain, as the country came under its protection. I

vividly remember my mother recalling demonstrators in the capital Manama

shouting slogans: ‘go home Belgrave!’, ‘down with Eden!’, and ‘down with Lloyd!’

during the Suez War. The last two were in reference to Sir Anthony Eden, the

British Prime Minister and Sir Selwyn Lloyd, the British Foreign Secretary.

Furthermore, I remember conversations from my childhood as I accompanied my

late grandfather to local men’s Majlis (lounge) where they discussed their memories

of events from that time period. I particularly remember the stories about the

stoning of Lloyd’s car procession by demonstrators in Bahrain in March 1956.

Although the exact details of the discussions escape me, I have clear images of the

3 H. Kamal, ‘Belgrave Al-Insan’ [Belgrave the Person], Kurasat Charles Belgrave 1926-1957 [Charles
Belgrave’s Booklet], (Muharraq: 2008), 17-19 (17).

© Hamad E. Abdulla v