Fazl-e-Umar — Page 186
Fazle Umar 186 From that point onwards, for a period of about three years, the Ahrar put forth their utmost effort and had recourse to every type of device to bring about the decline and disintegration of the Movement. In 1934 members of the Ahrar Party plotted to create misunderstandings among Muslims about the Movement. Some top bureaucrats of the British administration including Sir Herbert Emerson, the Governor of Punjab sided with the Ahrar Party. Sir Herbert Emerson was well known for his hostility towards the Movement. He encour- aged the Ahrar in their Opposition to the Movement and backed them up. It appeared as though the entire population of the country was supporting the Ahrar. Sir Herbert Emerson was an able officer but had an exaggerated notion of his political acumen and foresight. He viewed with suspicion the activities of the Kashmir Committee, and felt that as a religious leader the Khalifatul Masih should not have identified himself with the Committee. He was no doubt aware of the organisation of the Community and misinterpreted it as a parallel government. He suspected that the Movement was a sort of state within a state and might one day become a danger for the British government. T H E A H R A R C O n F E R E n C E OF 1 9 3 4 The Ahrar made an application for permission to hold a propaganda conference at a place in the close vicinity of Qadian, in October 1934. It was a clumsily conceived plan as there was no possible religious purpose that could be served by holding a conference so close to Qadian. At whom was the propaganda proceeding from the conference to be directed? The conference was proposed to be convened in an area the population around which, with the exception of Qadian, was mainly non-Muslim. If the purpose of the conference was to alienate the Ahmadis from their allegiance to the Khalifa, or to repudiate their belief in the claims of the Founder of the Movement, they knew and the government must have been aware that not a single Ahmadi would