Page 148 - Records of Bahrain (4) (i)_Neat

136 Records of Bahrain

Khan Sahib YUeuf Kano;> lor example, Invariably decline to ;,‘v
assist. The only hope of oDtaining an unbiassed opinion
would have ooen to appoint persons who are not Bahrain
subjects and this would have been severely criticised. Owing
to the nature of the crime it was obvious that no direct
evidence could ue obtained, and the Sunni members would be
certain to take advantage of thi6 fact to give a non­
committal report on which Hamad could not take any action,
he feared that this would become a precedent and in the
future accused persons or communities might demand that the
matter be referred to a similar Majlis, & as there i6 little
possibility or any such Majlis in Bahrain giving a decision
against Sunnis, whatever the nature of the ofience, no
punishment would result and crime would oe encouraged. On
the other hand if he made every endeavour to trace the
culprits, and succeeded in doing so, and held a trial and
himself punished, them, the result would oe a deterrent and
increase his personal preBtige. Shaikh Hamad, by public
offer of a large reward, and by employment of secret agents,
he
has done all</ilm could to trace the culprits. Although
everything pointed to the crime having been committed by
inhabitants of sudaiyeh or at their instigation, it has been
Impossible to obtain any proof. Meanwhile the sitrah outrage
has occurred. The accused made some slight attempt to ask
for the case to be referred either to the Shara or a Majlis,
out Shaik Hamad rightly realised that it would drag on inter-
manaDly, and probably result in the culprits escaping
adequate punishment. This, in turn, would 6till further
encourage similar outrages and he (Hamad) felt that ultimate­
ly would be held responsible for failure to maintain order.
He has therefore dealt with the matter himself, as already
reported. His action appears to have considerably frightened
those who approved of the outrage. Both Shaiks Hamad and
Aodulla tell me that there is no doubt but that Shaik Ea6a's
wife, with the connivance of Shaik Easa, encouraged Shaik
. Khalid