After the biography of Sadguru Upasni Maharaj was released to the public, critics were in an uproar against certain spiritual figures. On March 14th (1923) more articles appeared in the Bombay newspapers slandering Meher Baba. But amazingly, the more that opposition to Baba spread, the more his name came into prominence! The Gujarati newspaper Insaf went so far as to print an appeal to public leaders to “take drastic steps to rip to pieces the net of the corruptive and depraved trio of Meher Baba, Babajan and Upasni Maharaj!”
Meher Baba, however, refused to let any of the mandali defend him or his Masters. Writing rebuffs to the newspaper editors was forbidden.
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 2, p. 493.