Fazl-e-Umar — Page 189
189 T E n SIO n S b E T w E E n T H E G O v E R n M E n T A n d T H E M O v E M E n T But the sequel of the issue of the notice under the Criminal Law Amendment Act brought about a situation of crisis and tension between the government and the Move- ment. The Khalifatul Masih explained the whole background of the situation in detail for the information of the members of the Movement all over the world in his Friday sermons and condemned the government action in strong but not provocative terms. Huzur had aired the matter publicly not out of any desire for personal gratification or with the purpose of humiliating the government, but solely to uphold the dignity and honour of the Movement, which had been grossly affronted. If he were suddenly to become silent over the matter his forbearance might be misconstrued as submission to the point of view of the government under threat of coercion. The matter was eventually settled by means of a letter from the Home Secretary of the Provincial Government addressed to Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih in which the government expressed its appreciation of the point of view of the Khalifatul Masih and its regret at the mistaken action of the government. On his side the Khalifatul Masih in his next Friday sermon announced that as the government had expressed its appreciation of his point of view and acknowledged that a mistake had been made in issuing the notice under the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the matter was now amicably settled and was finally closed. In a subsequent meeting between Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih and the Governor, which came about by chance, they were able to remove any lingering misunderstand- ings in their minds. But incidents continued to happen which demonstrated that a section of the official hierarchy still entertained feelings of strong prejudice against the Movement.