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The message for the Bahá’í New Year which has been received
from the Prime Minister Tony Blair highlights a supportive
relationship between the British government and the Bahá’í
community which goes back to the earliest days of the faith’s
history.
In the late 1840s, Lt-Col. Justin Sheil, the British emissary
to Persia, described the growth of the community and its intense
persecution by the Persian authorities, in his dispatches
to Lord Palmerston in the Foreign Office.
In the late 19th century, Lord Curzon conveyed
the first accurate information about the nascent community
to the British government. His seven-page account of the new
religion, Persia and the Persian Question, published
in 1892, was among the best of its time. Further outbreaks
of persecution were watched closely by the British Consuls
in both Persia and Baghdad and frequently reported back to
the government.
The British system of government was highly praised by Bahá’u’lláh
who wrote to Queen Victoria, “We have also heard that thou
hast entrusted the reins of counsel into the hands of the
representatives of the people. Thou, indeed, hast done well...”
The championing of the faith by prominent members of Edwardian
society, among them Lady Blomfield, meant that by 1911 when
the Faith’s then leader, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, arrived in London after
a lifetime of imprisonment and exile, a warm and favourable
reception awaited him. It was largely through the efforts
of Sir Mark Sykes MP, Lord Lamington (who met ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
in London), and the Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour that
‘Abdu’l-Bahá was afforded special protection during the British
routing of the Turkish Army in northern Palestine at the end
of the Great War.
’Abdu’l-Bahá’s humanitarian acts and saintly character inspired
high respect from the British Administrators of Palestine,
resulting in the knighting of the Bahá’í leader in 1919. At
the time of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s death two years later, Winston
Churchill sent a telegram which read, “I have learnt with
great regret of the death of Sir Abbas Abdul Baha. Please
convey to Bahai community suitable expression of condolence
of His Majesty’s Government.”
With the resumption of the persecutions of the Bahá’í community
in Iran following the 1979 revolution, Bahá’í communities
called upon their MPs and the British government to protest
on their behalf. Several Early Day Motions and other actions
followed, adding to a worldwide chorus of disapproval which
helped to curtail the intended pogrom against Iran’s Bahá’ís.
The formation of the All-Party Parliamentary Friends of the
Bahá’ís in 2000 signalled the latest stage in this relationship.
The group aims to assist the Baha’i community with its defence
of the Baha’is anywhere in the world where they are being
subjected to religious persecution or intolerance, as well
as to provide a forum for an exchange of ideas central to
Bahá’í principles.
In a society awakening to the value and importance of multiculturalism
and social inclusion, Bahá’ís hope that by sharing their
experience, they can assist the people of the United Kingdom
and their legislators, to forge a united and prosperous future.
RW
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