How the Cairo Fire of 1952 tested young India’s cautious foreign policy
· Scroll
On the morning of January 26, 1952, RN Barrot was resting at Shepheard’s Hotel, preparing to fly back to Bombay. The Indian businessman, who was the managing partner of Bombay Cotton Export-Import Co and managing director of Karachi Cotton Corporation Ltd, had been in Egypt to purchase cotton from the Alexandria market. What should have been an uneventful end to a routine business trip turned into a nightmare.
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Riots erupted in Cairo after British troops killed 56 Egyptian policemen in Ismailia, in the occupation zone around the Suez Canal. Enraged crowds targeted British-owned establishments, including the British Turf Club, British Council offices, cinemas, bars, wine shops, car showrooms, garages and hotels.
Barrot had the misfortune of staying at a British-owned property. Mobs set Shepheard’s Hotel ablaze and he later described his escape as a “miracle”.
In a letter to India’s Ministry of External Affairs in April, he wrote: “In such a panicky condition, I was forced to go out of the hotel by leaving all my belongings in room no. 129.” He added that there was no police or military protection for those fleeing the violence and estimated his losses at 2,000 Egyptian pounds.
Barrot escaped the epicentre of the violence in a taxi and survived largely because...
