The Qadian Diary — Page 108
Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad 94 Desecration of sacred places at Qadian, being an Air Mail letter sent by Foreign Secretary, Central Ahmadiyya Organisation, Lahore, to Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Premier New Delhi, while this booklet was in the press. (Dated Lahore, 4th November 1947) We have again and again approached you during the last two and a half months inviting your attention to what was happening at Qadian and requesting you to kindly take some visible action to save Qadian from the state of extreme lawlessness in which it has been plunged. No visible action has, however, so far been taken with the exception of sending a few representatives, but that too without any visible results. On the other hand, what Qadian has been reduced to, must be well known to you. Practically the whole town has been forcibly cleared of Muslims. Only about one thousand Ahmadies remain, and they are living under intolerable conditions. The story of murder, loot, abduction, vexatious house searches, forcible ejection of our men from our public buildings and private houses and seizure of licensed arms need not be retold. We have already said so much on the point. Our recent anxiety, however, is the fate of our sacred places. A universally accepted principle in all inter-communal disputes and even in armed conflicts is that places and institutions held sacred by any people will be made immune to attacks or actions derogatory to their sacred character. I think you will remember that in one of the earliest inter-dominion conferences it was declared as a mutually agreed policy that places held sacred by any community will be protected and that any harm done to them will be made good at public expense. According to information received by us desecration of our sacred places at Qadian has already started. The Masjid Noor, a