The Descent of the Messiah — Page 14
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH such names has died in Qadian. For example, he writes that the daughter of Maula died from the plague, but the fact is that no girl by that name was ever born to Maula. Similarly, he writes that a weaver named Sadru has died of the plague, but there is no weaver by the name of Sadru in this village who has died of the plague. I can only wonder about his motive in listing fictitious names among those who have died of the plague. Perhaps, by doing so, he thinks that people will not discover his deception, thinking that someone else by that name may have died. (3) The third manner of deception adopted by Paisa Akh- bār is that it has cunningly and mischievously listed among the victims of the plague some individuals who did not die of the plague but of some other cause. For example, he writes in his newspaper about the son of Buddha Teli as having died of the plague, whereas the entire village knows that he died after being bitten by a rabid dog. As is the norm, his manner of death was officially recorded and the date on which he was bitten by the dog and other details were recorded alongside it. What kind of honesty is it on the part of Paisa Akhbār to publish lies that indirectly belie the Government and make it seem as if it had deliberately tried to conceal a case of the plague through its employees who recorded it as having been caused by a dog-bite, and that it was the newspaper that uncovered the de- ception? If Paisa Akhbār has gone to the extent of lying about cases that have been investigated by the Government, is not its existence a cause of great concern? It should be the duty of editors to spread truth in the world and not lies. That is why I have repeatedly said that such filthy newspapers harm the world, rather than bring any benefit and that they are responsible for spreading falsehood, which is something extremely unholy and impure. I do not know how far this person will go in employing falsehood in his animosity towards me and how many more liv- 14