Accident citadel 1954

The month of June of 1954 came and brought with it a new surprise and perhaps even a new catastrophe! Following personal disputes between individual workers in Bahrain Oil Company, an altercation occurred between some work colleagues. The police immediately rushed to arrest the instigators of the incident and for the investigation of the case. The troublemakers rushed to ignite tensions, which led to multilateral clashes. Despite the government attempts to calm the situation, these efforts succeeded in the daytime and then the instigators undermined it night.

They have took advantage of circumstances to ignite the flames of new disputes new, as they started the incitement and called for organizing a protest that marched to the Police Castle station in Manama to demand the release of detainees.

When the police tried to disperse the demonstration, the result was bloody clashes between the two sides.

This reflected the cunning interference of a secret category aiming at undermining the security and stability of the country. This incident has been historically and nationally known as the Castle incident.

On the first day of the month of July 1954, a large demonstration marched to the British Commissioner House; the reckless clashes that happened there had resulted in the death of four persons. His Highness Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad rushed to encircle the incident and issued a statement ordering the formation of a commission to investigate the facts and to submit a report to His Highness. A committee was formed upon this statement of the 1st of July 1954 to look into this unfortunate incident; it included: Sheikh Abdullah bin Isa Al Khalifa, Sheikh Abdul Latif Bin Mohammad Al Saad, Sheikh Abdel-Hussein Al Hali, in addition to a member the British Supreme Court in Bahrain ... The statement added: the government is ready to assume its full rights and responsibility to prove that it is serious in proving the responsibilities and perform what is necessary. Therefore, people have to remain calm and tranquil, performing their jobs as usual in peace and safety, and the government will retain the general security. The end of the Declaration.

Later on His Highness ordered the inclusion of a number of dignitaries and gentlemen to the membership of the Committee in order to reach fair and accurate results. Soon after, His Highness issued a decree in this regard naming the following as members of the Committee: Sheik Mohammed Saleh Abdel-Latif, Mr. Mansour bin Mohammad Al Aread, and Mr. Ahmed Bin Yousef Fakhro, Mr. Ibrahim Ben Ali Almskoti, Mr. Abd Ali Allioat, Mr. Mohsen Al Tajer, Mr. Mohamed Sadiq Al-Baharna, Mr. Hussein Ali Yateem, Mr. Mohamed Bin Yousef Bin Nasser, and Mr. Mohammed Fadil al-Mubarak, and Mr. Mohammed Jabr Al Muslim, and Mr. Hassan Almedifa.

The Committee concluded its investigation and submited a report to His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa. The following is the text of the report:

You have entrusted us Your Highness with the task of investigating what happened in the vicinity of the police castle on the first day of July 1954. This committee, which was formed by your orders, have started on seventh day and ended on the 10th day of July and listened to the testimony of 27 witnesses. The counselor helped us with a list of witnesses from the police and we have heard most of them. Abed Ali Allioat, who was on one of those being asked to attend the meetings of the Commission of Inquiry, had volunteered and assisted the Committee in finding witnesses from the Shiites who were close to the castle. He brought three witnesses of the wounded and four witnesses who were on the road north of the castle when at ceasefire. The Commission expresses its deep gratitude for the efforts to Abdul Ali, who tried his best to get witnesses who were at the Castle Square, but he told us he did not succeed in convincing anyone to come insure and admit he was there. One of the witnesses is Maseer bin Abdullah Zahran came to testify. The Commission thanks him also for this sense of duty and he has proven to be an independent witness.

After a careful reflection of the testimonies, the Commission found that the facts are as follows: there was a demonstration of the Al Baharna to march to the British Commission House in Manama to seek safety, but we have not been able to ascertain the type of safety they were looking for, but it was clear they were going to the Commission House. It seems that the Al Baharna crowd was well-structured. Six buses have been used to bring them from their villages, and the numbers of these buses were covered, perhaps to conceal the truth. All have gathered at Momen Mosque, North of the castle.

At about ten in the morning, the vast crowd that was at that point passing out of the castle through the stadium fence to a shop beside the northwestern tower. Some of the crowd entered the garden, which is in front of the house of Mr. Hyde, the Police Director. Before entering the arena in the Castle, some of the crowd have entered Hotat Altorani and armed themselves with sticks and pieces of iron pipes. When they approached the northwestern of the castle, fifteen policemen, whose number increased up to 40 with three Corporals, tried to persuade the crowd to withdraw.

The Corporal Hamad Bin Rashed, was unarmed and alone when he approached the angry crowd and asked the rational in them to persuade reckless to withdraw and calm down. He has ordered his men not to act without orders and warned people with machine guns on the northwestern tower not shooting. The crowd was looking very angry and enraged. They said they came to the castle to get what they want, and if they were not able to enter the castle, they will go and attack the homes and families. While Corporal Hamad bin Rashid was trying to convince the crowd to disperse, the sound of two pistol shots came from the crowd. One of the police witnesses said that he saw a man carrying a gun firing two shots, one directed towards the witness and the other he fired while he was running towards the direction of the castle.
We have no proof of the authenticity of this certificate, but it is clear to us that two bullets were fired from the public. Then gun shots were fired from the balcony of the house of the Director Mr. Hyde, the rooftop of his house and the castles north-east tower. One eyewitness said that the police fired three shots into the air from the tower to scare people, and Ali Hasan Al Sharaj and his two men did not fire from their machine-gun from the top of the north-west tower.

When the shooting started from the castle, the crowd separated and ran to the road, and three bodies were found on the ground, two were twenty-five yards away from the tower and one was found in the soccer field. We have doubtless evidence that some of the crowd were being seen falling from the bullets striking the arena in the north-west side of the tower. It is obvious that some police had opened fire to kill.

It has been proven that the police had been ordered not to fire their guns without orders from the highest officers, except in the case of self-defense. We have been told that the shooting by police is contrary to the instructions of the police. The corporals tried to stop some of their men from shooting but could not control them. Shaid, the Director, and the Inspector Salman bin Jabr, have tried their maximum efforts to stop the fire from the House; apart from these there has been no one of the police officers outside the castle or on its roofs while these events were occurring.

We have listened to the testimony of Dr. Suno from the Government of Bahrain Hospital, and Dr. Storm from the American Missionary Hospital; it received three wounded men, and the injuries of one of them were very serious, but his life has been saved through blood transports donated by two Englishmen. The American Hospital also received nine wounded all were shot except one. We have investigated some of the wounded as being witnesses; they were injured in a road north of the castle. It is abundantly clear that they were wounded by bullets fired in the air, and one of the wounded was a youngster of only eleven years old who was shot in the forehead while sitting outside the Ferdawsi Club, which hid behind the House trees.

It is clear from the testimony of Dr. Snow that one of those who were brought to the hospital had been shot from a distance of fifty yards and another one of the wounded had been shot from the same distance, whereas o others were shot from very far distances. Furthermore, when the crowd divided and left the scene, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Mohammed, father of the current Minister of Electricity and Water Sheikh Daej bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, took urgent action to summon an ambulance to transport the injured to hospital.

The result.

We believe that the Baharna crowd was in an agitated and threatening state and were armed with sticks and pieces of iron. When the two gun shots were fired, there was no risk of direct attack at that time, in spite of this; the police was in a state of turmoil. Regardless of their orders, they opened fire End of the report.

But was the riot over? How would it end and its agitators are always ready to exploit all of the conditions arouse it. The result of these unfortunate events was the death of nine persons, and there funeral was an appropriate opportunity to awaken other sedition.

Therefore, the funerals had a huge procession, in which the participants carried the bodies of victims wrapped in British flags! The funeral procession marched to the British Commissioner House, and the crowds were yelling for the fall the government and the life of Britain! In turn, the government was able to absorb this incident with wisdom and restraint, and left the crowds to practice their exotic practice without interference. The riot was about to end. We say: about to end, because its ending in peace would not achieve the purposes of the agitators of the sedition. Their purposes exceed the mere procession and yelling against the government and for life to Britain.

Therefore, they started calling for the strike that would last for a nine days, in reference to the number of victims of the incident. They have actually managed ably and cunningly to persuade some people to declare their strike. In fact, they persuaded a misled category, but they failed to convince the wise and the sensible, who have expressed their disapproval of this strike which will hazard the interests of the country. In such events, the mind was in a vacation; cunning and deception was ruling the events. The strike lasted for nine days, which were enough to make huge losses for workers, farmers and fishermen, in addition to other material losses and the disruption of the pace of everyday life and filling the atmosphere with tension and anxiety, a fit environment for the nurture and deployment of rumors.

The Committee, which was composed upon the orders of Sheikh Salman bin Hamad, had its first meeting in the morning of Wednesday, July 5th, 1954 in Bab Bahrain building. After several meetings, the Committee issued a resolution submitted to His Highness Sheikh Salman declaring the circumstances of the unfortunate incident and recommended giving financial compensation to the families of the victims. Based on this recommendation, His Highness, the Governor of Bahrain, issued a decree on the 16th of July 1954 that announced giving financial compensation to each family of the victims families of five thousand Rupees, in addition to ten thousand Rupees that are paid from His Highness own money. He also ordered giving the families a monthly salary of hundred Rupees for a period of three years.

In implementation of the directives of His Highness the Governor of the country, the Committee decided to transfer these funds to the minors fund department, and to purchase a house for every family, so as to protect the rights of minors and families of the victims. The favor of His Highness Sheikh Salman was not new to the people of Bahrain and was not the first of its kind. However, it came at a complicated time, and unusual circumstances, people rejoiced and prayed to God for His Highness and the safety of the country and the restoration of Bahrains intimate warmth in the relationships between the citizens. In the next morning, delegations of spontaneous citizens were marching to the Al Rafaa Palace to salute His Highness the Governor of the country, to renew their loyalty, to pledge allegiance to the Emir and to express their unity in face of dissension and troublemakers.

The influx of citizens to Al Rafaa Palace lasted for several days and was regarded as a spontaneous, national term that expresses the linkage between the people and the leader. His Highness chose to respond to his citizens in a better way; he issued the following declaration: from Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa to all our brothers who have shown their loyalty, friendship and dedication these days, we appreciate your noble feelings and these intimate emotions, hoping from God to guide us for the good of the country and people. I repeat my thanks for your loyalty and devotion, asking God the success and happiness ... Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa on the 11th of July, 1954). End of the Declaration.

The rumor was a new weapon used by the initiators of sedition for further confusion and instability. They plotted day and night in pursuit of their interests and those of directing them in hope of demolishing the existing legitimacy.

With the close of the year1954 and as the atmosphere of tension and the spread of rumors and the willingness of some to believe it, three members of the Municipality Council in Manama have resigned. Although these resignations have exploded storm in the peaceful Bahraini life, it passed without the direct affect on the political and social life. Life continued and States entity became stronger than any demonstration or a resignation of any staff.

During a talk with Mr. Ahmed Al Omran, he said regarding this matter: The most annoying thing to His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad was the casualties in these events. He was very careful not to prejudice or harm any of the sons of his homeland. Personally, I assure you that His Highness refused to use force in these events and was often repeating when asked to give orders to use force ... All these are my sons ... We have invested a lot in them and now you are asking me to order to beat them.

Mr. Al Omran goes back in memory; his fingers playing with the rosary beads in his hand, saying: At one time when demonstrations of school students broke, Sheikh Issa and Sheikh Khalifa called me and inquired about the events in schools and how to calm this situation? I told them: one of you should come with me to the schools. Accordingly, we went to the secondary schools and spoke with the students there; I told them here are those you are demonstrating against; you are from them and they are from you, and they only have love and appreciation for you. Upon this the hearts of the students calmed and the demonstrations adjourned.

Now it seems clear that the unique partnership between the late His Highness Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and his brother, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa ... A partnership that united them for the security and stability of the country and led to their becoming virtuously consulting each other with can be done to calm the situation. They later decided to summon the Minister of Education and consult about the best means to calm the situation and the right thing to do.

The events that Bahrain was going through at that time were not remote from the attention of His Highness Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, his governmetn and his aides topped by his brilliant young men Isa Bin Salman and Khalifa bin Salman, who were then nine and seventeen years old. In a time when His Highness Sheikh Salman was working on the continuation of the pace of construction and hard work, and the continuation of the institutions of state, his two sons, Isa and Khalifa were following events closely and trying to contain this sedition and work to mitigate the negative effects on the stability and security of the country and the progress of work and construction.

His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman remembers when he was talking with the citizens, lightening their ordeals and working to uplift their spirits and calm their nerves. Today His Highness confirms: what was happening to Bahrain was not an easy thing. Those practices were not occurring spontaneously; planning for its escalation continues and grows day after day. Fortunately, God has given this country a wise ruler and a group of dedicated, loyal men who work day and night to free Bahrain from this crisis. The conditions remained ranging from calmness and tranquility to days of difficult and tension.