Sepoy Mutiny Echoes Muslim-Western Clash

March 14 -- Sometimes, it only takes a little bit of grease to really throw the fat into the fire.

When two cultures clash, misunderstandings over seemingly small things can flare into larger clashes or even violence. Late last month, detainees from the Afghan war went on a hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when American guards ripped a bed sheet from a prisoner's head.

To the guards, the inmate was defying regulations and creating a security risk. To the prisoners, a Muslim was being denied his right to pray with a turban — albeit a makeshift one — covering his head.

In May of 1857, a misunderstanding over a piece of weaponry proved to be the last straw for Muslims and Hindus already smoldering with resentment against the British in India. The introduction of the Lee-Enfield rifle, seen by the British as just a nifty new piece of technology, sparked the Sepoy Rebellion — also known as the Indian mutiny or the First Indian War of Independence.

"The choice of technology wasn't the cause, but it certainly was the trigger," said Glynn Wood, professor of international policy studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California. "The troops saw it as one more example of foreigners having no sensitivity to them."

‘Ritual Defilement’