[From the Guardian:]
The communications received in recent months from your Assembly testify to
the perseverance and devotion with which the Baha'i Communities of India,
Pakistan and Burma have pursued the course of their activities in the face
of manifold obstacles and trials and despite the severity of the problems
which have confronted them since the outbreak of the political
disturbances that have agitated the Indian sub-continent. Though suffering
from various reverses, though afflicted with disappointment, though
sustaining repeated losses they have persevered in their labours, widened
the scope of their task, pushed further the outposts of the Faith, and won
their initial victories beyond the confines of their respective homelands.
In the field of Baha'i publications, in the publicity given to the Baha'i
teachings, in their negotiations with the civil authorities under whose
jurisdiction they function, in their constant encouragement and support of
the pioneers labouring both at home and abroad, the national elected
representatives of these communities have, likewise, demonstrated a spirit
of dedication, a zeal and fidelity worthy of the highest praise.
The great historic enterprise launched by them in recent years in the
neighbouring territories of Ceylon, Siam, Indonesia and the Malayan
Peninsula,--a vast and highly meritorious undertaking still in its initial
stage of development, and conferring a great and imperishable lustre on
its valiant initiators--must be energetically prosecuted notwithstanding
the unsettled political situation prevailing in those territories, and
however threatening the clouds gathering on the international horizon. The
movement and settlement of pioneers throughout India, Pakistan and Burma
must, moreover, continue unabated and must be paralleled by a steady
multiplication of Baha'i Centres and the consolidation of nascent
institutions, the negotiations with the civil authorities, however
disillusioning and unfruitful they have been so far in their results, must
continue to be conducted with extreme vigilance and unrelaxing vigour. The
highly commendable task of completing the translation and publication of
the "New Era" in the languages already chosen should be promptly and
befittingly consummated. The efforts exerted to publicize the Faith,
disseminate its teachings and spread its fame, should be redoubled by all
administrative agencies concerned with this vital sphere of Baha'i
activity. The sacred duty of deepening and enriching the spiritual life of
the newly enrolled believers should be faithfully discharged by both the
local and national elected representatives of these communities. The added
responsibility of contributing to the raising of the superstructure of the
Bab's holy Sepulchre, now entering upon the second phase of its
construction, and of speeding its consummation in view of the increasingly
critical world condition, should be valiantly faced and nobly discharged.
Above all, the inescapable obligation of guarding the integrity of the
Faith, of preserving the unity of its followers, and of reinforcing its
spiritual and administrative foundations, must be continually borne in
mind not only by the representatives of these communities but by every
individual believer labouring for the good name and the glorification of
the Cause of Baha'u'llah.
The Baha'i Communities of the Indian sub-continent and of Burma
constituting the largest entity throughout the Orient, next to the body of
believers residing in the Cradle of the Faith, and enjoying, unlike their
Eastern sister communities in Persia, Egypt and Iraq, the blessings of
relative freedom from repression or persecution, and including within
their fold a greater variety of races, creeds and tongues than any of
their sister communities throughout the world, are faced with both a
peculiar challenge and a unique opportunity. The resources at their
disposal, the privileges they possess, the facilities they enjoy should,
with clear vision, with confident hearts and inflexible resolve, be
consecrated to the noble objectives which it is their mission to pursue.
Conscious of their high calling, aware of the potentialities with which
their homelands have been endowed, these communities, placing their
reliance on the all-conquering power of Baha'u'llah must unitedly arise,
however numerous the barriers imposed between them, to achieve their
destiny, and contribute collectively and effectively, to the world-wide
propagation, the universal recognition and ultimate world triumph of the
Cause of Baha'u'llah.