Grave and manifold as are the problems confronting the struggling Faith of
Baha'u'llah, none appear more significant, nor seem more compelling in
their urgency, than the incredible sufferings borne so heroically by our
down-trodden brethren of the East. Recent reports confirming the news
which I have lately communicated to you have all emphasized the barbarous
severity practiced on the innocent followers of our Cause. They reveal the
possibility of the extension of this agitation, partly instigated for
political purposes and selfish motives, to neighboring towns and
provinces, and dwell upon the traditional slackness of the local
authorities to inflict prompt and severe punishment upon all the
perpetrators of such abominable crimes. It has been ascertained that in
the town of Jahrum women have suffered martyrdom in a most atrocious
manner, that the knife of the criminal has mercilessly cut to pieces the
body of a child, that a number have been severely beaten and injured,
their bodies mutilated, their homes pillaged, their property confiscated,
and the homeless remnants of their family abandoned to the mercy of a
shameless and tyrannical people. In other parts of Persia, and
particularly in the province of A_dh_irbayjan in the town of Mara_gh_ih,
the friends have been pitilessly denied the civic rights and privileges
extended to every citizen of the land. They have been refused the use of
the public bath, and been denied access to such shops as provide the
necessities of life. They have been declared deprived of the benefit and
protection of the law, and all association and dealing with them denounced
as a direct violation of the precepts and principles of Islam. It has even
been authoritatively stated that the decencies of public interment have
been refused to their dead, and that in a particular case every effort to
induce the Muslim undertaker to provide the wood for the construction of
the coffin, failed to secure the official support of the authorities
concerned. Every appeal made by these Baha'is on behalf of their brethren,
whether living or dead, has been met with cold indifference, with vague
promises, and, not infrequently, with severe rebuke and undeserved
chastisement.
The tale of such outrageous conduct, such widespread suffering and loss,
if properly expressed and broadcast, cannot fail in the end to arouse the
conscience of civilized mankind, and thereby secure the much-needed relief
for a long-suffering people. I would, therefore, renew my plea, and
request you most earnestly to redouble your efforts in the wide field of
publicity, to devise every possible means that will alleviate the fears
and sorrows of the silent sufferers in that distracted country. Surely
these vile wrong-doers cannot long remain unpunished for their ferocious
atrocities, and the day may not be far distant when we shall witness, as
we have observed elsewhere, the promised signs of Divine Retribution
avenging the blood of the slaughtered servants of Baha'u'llah.