Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 350
350 AHMADIYY AT hours. Despite repeated requests the proceedings of the Com- mittee of the National Assembly have not yet been made public, which is sure proof that the opponents bf the Move- ment did riot emerge with any credit from the proceedings, though through their large numbers and by outrageous abuse of the process of legislation they achieved their immediate objective. Nobody appears, however, to he certain what exactly is the import of the resolution. Attempts have been made to manipulate the resolution for the purpose of depriv- ing the members of the Movement of the benefit of the fundamental right embedded in the constitution guarantee- ing to every citizen freedom to profess and practise his religion and to establish and maintain his religious institu- tions. Such attempts as have been made the subject of judicial determination have only backfired against their proponents. There is no doubt, however, that the Constitutional Amend- ment, brought about by the resolution of the National Assembly of 7 September 1974, has placed the Movement and its members in a position of some embarrassment, if not of difficulty. But as has always been the case in the history of the Movement, this is only one side of. the picture. The whole chain of events, beginning with the Rabwah incident, stimu- lated a surprising degree of interest in the Movement in the minds of the serious section of the people of Pakistan, so much so that within a few weeks of the adoption of the resolution of 7 September by the National Assembly, all the material for propaganda at the Headquarters of the Move- ment was exhausted by a very brisk demand for it. Seekers after truth began to arrive at the Headquarters daily in large numbers to look at everything themselves, and to ascertain by direct personal inquiries the differences that separated the Movement from the bulk of the Muslims and to determine where did the truth reside. This type of curiosity was most welcome to the workers of the Movement and they strove to satisfy it completely objectively with most benegcent results. But the factor that proved most effective in this context was