Fazl-e-Umar — Page 178
Fazle Umar 178 take prompt action to secure the desired result. This announcement was prominently displayed in all the principal towns of the Punjab and evoked a wave of horror against the repetition of Rajpal’s outrage by Vartman. The government fearing communal riots decided that a Division Bench of the High Court should try the editor and publisher of Vartman speedily, so that an authoritative construction of the relevant provision of the law might be obtained as early as possible. The Division Bench overruled the judgment of the single Judge in the Rajpal case and held that the action of the accused amounted to an offence under the relevant provision of the law, and convicted the two accused and sentenced them to a term of imprisonment. The Provincial Government also moved the Government of India to put through an amendment of the particular section of the Indian Penal Code so as to put it beyond all doubt that a publication of the type of Rajpal’s book and the article in Vartman constituted an offence under the law. The real remedy, however, that Hadhrat Khalifatul Masih II [ra] devised, was to remind the Muslims that they had woefully neglected one of their principal duties, namely, to present the life and character of the Holy Prophet [saw] in its true colour to the non-Muslims. He proposed, therefore, that on a specified day in every year public meetings should be held all over the country in which speeches should be delivered by Muslims and non-Muslims on the life and character of the Holy Prophet [saw]. He proposed that this scheme should be inaugurated on 17 June 1928. He set up machinery at Qadian to make the scheme fully effective and appealed for speakers to address the meetings to be held on 17 June. There was a most heartening response to the appeal, not only on the part of Muslims but also of non-Muslims. The meetings helped to clear the air to remove misunderstandings, to correct misrepre- sentations and to create a new, wholesome and lovable image of the Holy Prophet [saw] in the minds of non-Muslims throughout the country. These meetings have since been repeated every year and have become a permanent feature of the efforts