Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 255
THE RENAISSANCE OF ISLAM 255 feelings of hatred and contempt between the followers of Islam and Hinduism. Rajpal was convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment by the trial court. His appeal was dismissed, but on a revision petition to the High Court, the Judge before whom the petition came up for hearing took the view that the publication of the book, however offensive was its character, did not fall within the scope of the relevant section of the Indian Penal Code, and acquitted Rajpal. The judgment outraged Muslim sentiment and caused wide- spread grief and bewilderment. In effect it amounted to a sentence of death upon the wretched author of the book inasmuch as within a short time he was assassinated by a Muslim named 11m Din who found it impossible to control his feelings of horror and outrage at the dastardly perfor- mance of Rajpal, and could find no other way of assuaging the hurt he had suffered except through the blood of the offender. 11m Din was tried for murder, proudly confessed his guilt and was senten,ced to be hanged. He went to his execution cheerfully and the Muslims acclaimed him as a martyr. The public excitement over the whole tragic affair had scarcely had time to subside when an equally offensive article against the Holy Prophet was published in a Hindu journal called Vartman of Amritsar. This type of performance was evidence of the diseased mind of a section of the Hindu community, the appropriate remedy for which had to be prescribed with care, wisdom and foresight. The Khalifatul Masih II considered the whole situation thoughtfully and came to the conclusion that the entire responsibility for it did not lie upon the Hindus, and that the Muslims also had been guilty of a serious default which should be set right as early as possible. The immediate need was to obtain an authoritative clarification of the state of the law regarding such offensive publications and in case of a lacuna to have it filled by legislative action. He drew up a public announcement deal- ing with this aspect of the matter and calling upon the government to take prompt action to secure the desired result. This announcement was prominently displayed in all