The famous book, Rangeela Rasool, which literally means The Colorful Prophet, and more appropriately The Playboy Prophet, was published in Lahore, Punjab, in today’s Pakistan in the 1920s. It author was Pundit Chamupati (d. 1927), but his name was never revealed by publisher Rajpal.
Muslim clerics called the book blasphemous and the British Raj arrested Rajpal. After 5 years of trial, he was acquitted in 1929.
After several unsuccessful attempts to kill Rajpal, a young Muslim carpenter named Il-mud-din succeeded in stabbing him to death on April 6, 1929. Thereupon Il-mud-din became the hero of India’s Muslims, including Allama Iqbal and Jinnah. He was hailed first as Ghazi (honorific for infidel-slaying Muslims), and later on as Shaheed (martyr).
During the protracted trial, the issue became a cause celebre for the Muslims of entire India. And to avoid such ominous troubles in future, the British Raj introduced the Blasphemy Law in its Penal Code in 1927, which continues to exist in various modifications in the Penal Codes of all former British colonies, while the U.K. government repealed it in 2008.
Hindi readers of islam-watch.org can download the book from this link: Rangeela Rasool