Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 76
76 AHMADIYY AT at several places and inducing heavy loss of blood. His mother and wife were in an adjoining room and rushed out immediately to aid Pandit Lekh Ram and to. intercept his assailant. The house was situated in a populous. street in the middle of the town and the attack on Pandit Lekh Ram was carried out between 6 and 7 p. m. before sunset. It is alleged that Lekh Ram's mother tried to take hold of the assailant but he struck her on the head with a wooden roller and in the confusion that ensued made his escape from the house. Pandit Lekh Ram's entrails had protruded from his body and he was bleeding profusely. He was immediately conveyed to the hospital where he was at once attended to by two surgeons who employed all their skill to staunch the bleeding and to stitch together the injured portions of his entrails, but to no purpose. He continued in great agony till shortly after mid- night when he succumbed to his injuries. No trace of the assassin could be discovered. Pandit Lekh Ram's tragic end came as a great shock to the Aryas who immediately raised the cry that the assassination must have been carried out under the directions of Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who had prophecied the death of Pandit Lekh Ram with such striking accuracy as could not have been predicted by anyone who had not himself planned and organized the tragedy. At their instance Hazrat Ahmad's house at Qadian was thoroughly searched by the district police of Gurdaspur and the houses of several prominent Ahmadis were searched in different parts of the Province. None f these searches disclosed anything that could raise the slightest suspicion that Ahmad or any of his followers had been concerned even remotely with the tragic event. As the Aryas continued to give currency to their suspicion that Ahmad had been concerned with the assassination of Pandit Lekh Ram, he made an announcement on 15 March 1897 to the following effect: If anyone still suspects me of having conspired to bring about the death of Pandit Lekh Ram, as has been alleged in some of the