A case for a thorough inquiry

Lahore, Friday, September 19, 1924

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IN connection with the great tragedy which was enacted in Kohat last week, and on one aspect of which we have already had something to say, there are a number of points which call for an immediate, thorough and searching inquiry. The first is whether any provocation existed which could be held to justify or even explain arson, murder and other heinous offences which were perpetrated at the place in the name of religion. The grievance which is stated to have eventually led to the crisis was the publication of a poem containing abuse of Muslim holy places and scriptures. We have since seen the poem. Unfortunate and indefensible as the matter of the poem is and extremely ill-advised its publication was, we have no hesitation in saying that it could not possibly provoke any but the most fanatical mind, deliberately worked up to a pitch of excitement and indignation, to the perpetration of the kind of barbarities that were actually committed at Kohat. Let us not be misunderstood. We are strongly against the publication of the matter which has the remotest likelihood of injuring even in the slightest degree the feeling of any class or community in the country. But while for this reason we condemn the publication, we find in it no justification whatever for the acts of crime sublimated into madness that was perpetrated by so large a number of persons in broad daylight, especially when it is borne in mind that although the responsibility for the offensive publications rested only with an individual or individuals, the Hindus as a body had expressed regret for it by means of a resolution, as required by the Muslims.