BHOPAL: Bhopal State was today [June 1] taken over as a Chief Commissioner’s Province of the Indian Union. The change in the State’s status was announced by the first Chief Commissioner, Mr. N. B. Bannerji at a brief ceremony at the Secretary Ground, where the 8th Battalion of the Madras Regiment held a parade. …

[Meanwhile, in Benghazi,] the Grand Senussi, Emir Idriss- el-Senussi … issued a proclamation of independence and asked for British recognition of his assumption of all functions of Government. It was reported in Cairo on May 12 that the Emir Idriss would soon announce the independence of Cyrenaica and confront the [UN] with a fait accompli. The Emir was stated to have said … that Cyrenaica should become a state like Transjordan with himself as the ruler and with close links with Britain.

Sayyed Mohammed Idriss-el-Mahdi-el-Senussi, descendant of the Prophet [PBUH], is the spiritual … leader of a quarter of a million nomadic Senussi in Cyrenaica. He became Grand Senussi in 1917 in succession to his warlike uncle, who had attacked the British in World War I and was routed.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2024