Life of Ahmad — Page 779
as THE WHITE MINARET 779 by religion and custom and are acknowledged as purdah observing people. By way of an illustration I refer to the house of Shankar D a s which is next to the mosque. You may go on its roof and see. (7) The mosque Minaret will not be like a residential house. It will be a tapering pillar, which is being built on religions’ principles for the good of the public, as is clear from the Ishtih a r. A big clock will be fitted at the top to tell the people the times of prayer; and there will be a big lamp for light which will help the workers employed for the protection of the inhabitants. (8) The protection of the clock and the lamp naturally requires that it should remain closed except at certain times, viz. for the purposes of Adh a n , lighting the lamp and winding the clock. When the height of residential houses (where people actually live) does not affect purdah, how can it be interfered with by the construction of the Minaret? (9) The mosque Minaret is being built on ground which I own and possess, and it is a part of the mosque without which the mosque remains incomplete and defective. To stop building a mosque is stopping the building of a religious place of worship and that is an attack upon religious freedom, which is the right of every individual subject of the British Government. (10) The construction of the Minaret commenced a long time ago. Its Ishtih a r was