Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre
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The massacre of the Qissa Khawani Bazaar (the story tellers market) in Peshawar, British India (modern day Pakistan) on April 23, 1930 is considered a defining moment in the non violent struggle to drive the British out of India. It was the first major confrontation between British troops and non violent demonstrators in the then peaceful Peshawar city and some estimates at the time put the death toll from the shooting at nearly 400 dead. The shooting down of hundreds of unarmed people triggered protests across the subcontinent and catapulted the then newly formed KK (Khudai Khidmatgar) movement onto the National scene. [1]
When orders came to crack down on demonstrating civilians in the Qissa Khwani bazaar. The English troops had put advancing the Garhwal Rifles platoons ahead of them. When ordered to fire on the mob, they plainly refused to fire at the innocent people. The troops were disarmed and later court martialled.
The troops continued hunting the Peshawarites indiscriminately for six hours. Gene Sharp, who has written a study of nonviolent resistance, describes the scene on that day:
| “ | When those in front fell down wounded by the shots, those behind came forward with their chests bared and exposed themselves to the fire, so much so that some people got as many as twenty-one bullet wounds in their bodies, and all the people stood their ground without getting into a panic. . . . The Anglo-Indian paper of Lahore, which represents the official view, itself wrote to the effect that the people came forward one after another to face the firing and when they fell wounded they were dragged back and others came forward to be shot at. This state of things continued from 11 till 5 o'clock in the evening. When the number of corpses became too many, the ambulance cars of the government took them away. | ” |
This horrendous act of the British Empire against the local Pathan, Punjabi, and Indian population created unrest throughout the British Colony of India . This resulted in King George VI (Emperor of India) launching a legal investigation into this matter. The British Commission bought the case forward to Chief Justice Naimatullah Chaudhry, a distinguished Judge of the Lucknow protectorate.
Historical records of Peshawar Archives indicate that like many previous incidents, the British Government decided to mask the Qissa Khawani Bazaar Massacre by bribing the Judge. In addition, King George VI also passed a resolution to Knight Naimatullah Chaudhry with the title of "Sir" and "Lord" to gain his favour. In return it was expected that Naimatullah would issue a report supporting the British Troops. However, Naimatullah turned down the offers and he personally surveyed the area of massacre and published a 200-page report criticizing the British on their heinous act and passed a resolution in favour of the local people of Peshawar and N.W.F.P Area. The decision of the judge was hailed by the local populace upon the basis that truth and honesty had prevailed. The actions of the Naimatullah Chaudhry against King George IV made the British Raj rethink its extremist practices towards the end times of their rule in the Sub-Continent. The account of this incident can be found in the Lucknow High Court and Supreme Court archives. For further study, the archives are also found in Karachi High Court and many other Indian and Pakistani Court archives.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Qissa Khwani’s tale of tear and blood By Kazi Sarwar. April 20 2002The Statesman
[edit] References
- Popalzai, Dr Abdul Jalil (24 Apr 2004). The Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre. Last accessed on 26 February 2006
