ties that bind - sep 11

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communicate with each other over the rattle of gunfire and agree on periods of short respite. When the Christmas truce was brokered, British forces manned part of the line running south from the Ypres salient for 27 miles to the La Bassee Canal. Soldiers shouted across the trenches to each other, met in no man’s land, shared cigarettes and even sang Christmas carols together, although there was some dispute about which language they should sing in. German parapets were fitted with miniature Christmas trees. These were made of small pine cones and glowed behind candlelight when lined across the German trenches; these reminded Indian troops of Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. Copyright: Getty Images (GettyImages_83513318): Indian troops serving with the British Army pray outside the Shah Jahn Mosque in Woking, Surrey, during the Muslim Festival of Baqrid, or Eid al-Adha, circa 1916 Soldiers on both sides of the divide also took the opportunity to compare their official Christmas gifts, sent courtesy of King George V and the Kaiser respectively. Tommies were rewarded with plum puddings and a ‘Princess Mary box’ – a small square case made of metal engraved with an outline of George V’s daughter – which was filled with sweetmeats, chocolates, butterscotch, cigarettes and tobacco. There was also an accompanying picture of Princess Mary and a letter from King George wishing the troops a speedy victory – although the war was clearly not ‘over by Christmas’ as had been first anticipated. German troops were not forgotten either and were sent a large Meerschaum Pipe along with a box of cigars. 83 The soldiers received these measures with the good nature in which they were intended. There is substantial evidence from the censors’ reports that these gifts and letters not only helped maintain morale, but also helped soldiers adjust to life in a new and hostile terrain. Gifts and concessions made them feel valued and allowed them a degree of individuality in the otherwise anonymous regime of trench life. Between Caliph and Crown: Turkey enters the war The situation for Muslim sepoys became more complicated three months after the war began when, on 7 November 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered the conflict and sided with Germany. This immediately provoked a flurry of activity in India, sparking a debate among Muslims – who now found themselves caught between Caliph and Crown. Mahomed Ali summed up the national mood in India, Muslims in the World Wars 83 Corrigan, Sepoys in the Trenches p.124-125 policyexchange.org.uk | 27
Ties that Bind 84 The Comrade, 7 November 1914, Centre for South Asian Studies, Cambridge (located at Cambridge University). 85 Note by the Censor, 3 February 1915, Censor of Indian Mails, 1914-1918, L/MIL/5/828/231, IOR, BL, London 86 Corrigan, Sepoys in the Trenches p.67 87 Charles Horne Source Records of the Great War, vol. III (Indianapolis, 1923) p.147. (The Sheikh al-Islam is the highest religious authority) 28 | policyexchange.org.uk declaring, ‘what was dreaded most by every Mussalman in India, and what had long kept them in a state of intolerable anxiety and suspense has at last come to pass. Great Britain is at war with Turkey’. 84 The government feared that Muslims in the Indian Army would either defect to the other side or just mutiny. Secular Indian nationalists also expected Muslims to rebel in large numbers and thought it an opportune moment to provoke wider unrest within the Army by inciting Sikhs and Hindus. Censors on the Western Front intercepted an anonymous letter intended for Indian soldiers, which declared: I pray to all my brothers, Hindu and Mussalman, to join together and break the English lock. There is no withstanding Germany. Germany burns up all who come (against her). Let no army come from India. Soon there will be a mutiny in India. Let all men join and put an end to the English. Germany marches forward dealing death. She has put Belgium to death and half of France. Very soon she will be the death of England too...The name of Germany is breathed throughout the world like the name of Harankash (a Demon) – hail Germany hail! Tear off the veil and listen. Verily my words are true. 85 When members of the Indian Revolutionary Army were later arrested in Toulouse, the discovery of seditious literature intended for distribution among sepoys only heightened the government’s fears. Military authorities swiftly banned a number of Indian journals, including the Hindustan Student, Justice, Spur and Indian Sociologist. 86 Much more serious, however, was the specific propaganda being directed at Muslims by both the German and Ottoman forces. The most significant was a fatwa issued by the Ottoman government. Authored by the Sheikh al-Islam, Essad Effendi, it was written in a traditional ‘questions and answers’ format, imploring Indian Muslims to switch their allegiance. 87 The fatwa was popularised around India by pan-Islamist leaders who had an existing relationship with the Ottoman Empire through Muslim groups such as the Anjuman-e Khuddam-e Ka’aba Society (Society of the Servants of the Ka’aba, founded in 1913) and the Red Crescent Medical Mission (founded in1912). Their previous cooperation with the Ottoman Empire, ostensibly for aid missions, meant that officials in Constantinople already had an established network of sympathisers in India to call on. If several enemies unite against Islam, if the countries of Islam are sacked, if the Moslem populations are massacred or made captive; and if in this case the Padishah in conformity with the sacred words of the Koran proclaims the Holy War, is participation in this war a duty for all Moslems, old and young, cavalry and infantry? Must the Mohammedans of all countries of Islam hasten with their bodies and possessions to the Djat? [Note: Jihad, Holy War.] Answer: Yes. The Moslem subjects of Russia, of France, of England and of all the countries that side with them in their land and sea attacks dealt against the Caliphate for the purpose of annihilating Islam, must these subjects, too, take part in the holy War against the respective governments from which they depend? Answer : Yes.
Page 1 and 2: Ties that Bind How the story of Bri
Page 3 and 4: 2 | policyexchange.org.uk About the
Page 5 and 6: 4 | policyexchange.org.uk Appendix
Page 7 and 8: 6 | policyexchange.org.uk Executive
Page 9 and 10: Ties that Bind 3 See: http://www.cp
Page 11 and 12: Ties that Bind 17 Stolen Valour: Ho
Page 13 and 14: Ties that Bind 12 | policyexchange.
Page 15 and 16: Ties that Bind 27 Omissi, The Sepoy
Page 17 and 18: Ties that Bind 16 | policyexchange.
Page 19 and 20: Ties that Bind 41 Ibid. p.28 42 Ibi
Page 21 and 22: Ties that Bind 47 Geoffrey Bennet,
Page 23 and 24: Ties that Bind 58 Ibid. Also see, M
Page 25 and 26: Ties that Bind 64 Punjabi Musalman
Page 27: Ties that Bind 74 Omissi, Sepoy and
Page 31 and 32: Ties that Bind 90 Ibid, p.5 91 Ibid
Page 33 and 34: Ties that Bind 107 Ibid. 108 Supple
Page 35 and 36: Ties that Bind 128 Ibid. 129 Ibid.
Page 37 and 38: Ties that Bind 146 Ibid., p.90 147
Page 39 and 40: Ties that Bind 159 Punjabi Mahomeda
Page 41 and 42: Ties that Bind 166 Ibid., p.129 167
Page 43 and 44: Ties that Bind 181 CAB/24/54, Natio
Page 45 and 46: Ties that Bind 187 India’s contri
Page 47 and 48: Ties that Bind 191 Judith Brown, Mo
Page 51 and 52: Ties that Bind 211 Ibid, p.55 212 I
Page 53 and 54: Ties that Bind 224 Omissi, Sepoy an
Page 55 and 56: Ties that Bind 238 Ibid, pp.70-72 2
Page 59 and 60: Ties that Bind 265 CAB/66/58/25, Na
Page 61 and 62: 270 The Gallup Coexist Index 2009:
Page 63 and 64: Ties that Bind 278 Note that Al-Muh
Page 65 and 66: Ties that Bind 286 http://www.times
Page 67 and 68: Ties that Bind 299 Hans Wehr, A Dic
Page 69 and 70: Ties that Bind 308 http://www.dohad
Page 71 and 72: Ties that Bind 315 http://web.archi
Page 73 and 74: Ties that Bind 321 http://web.archi
Page 75 and 76: Ties that Bind 329 http://www.indep
Page 77 and 78: Ties that Bind 340 Keynote Address
Page 79 and 80:
Ties that Bind 350 http://www.publi
Page 81 and 82:
Ties that Bind 364 Humayun Ansari,
Page 83 and 84:
Ties that Bind 373 http://web.archi
Page 85 and 86:
Ties that Bind 390 Ibid, p. 49. 391
Page 87 and 88:
Ties that Bind 406 Policy Exchange
Page 89 and 90:
Ties that Bind 419 http://www.musli
Page 91 and 92:
Ties that Bind 426 http://web.archi
Page 93 and 94:
Ties that Bind 435 Ibid., p.606 436
Page 95 and 96:
439 London Gazette, 3 July 1945, ht
Page 97 and 98:
96 | policyexchange.org.uk Bibliogr
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Ties that Bind 98 | policyexchange.
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