Qissa Khwani massacre - Revision history

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	The '''Qissa Khwani massacre'''<ref name="Old Name of Khwani">{{cite book \|last1=Yunus \|first1=Mohammed \|title=Persons, Passions & Politics \|date=1980 \|publisher=Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd \|location=New Delhi \|isbn=0-7069-1017-6 \|page=6}}</ref> ({{~~lang-~~ps\|د قصه خوانۍ بازار خوڼۍ پېښه}}) in [[Peshawar]], [[North-West Frontier Province]], [[British India]] (modern day [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]]) on 23 April 1930 was one of the defining moments of the independence movement in British India. It was the first major confrontation between the [[British Indian Army]] and demonstrators in the city, belonging to Abdul Ghaffar Khan's non-violent Khudai Khidmatgar (servants of God) movement against the British colonial government.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/massacre-at-qissa-khwani-bazaar-1930/\|title=Massacre at Qissa Khwani Bazaar, 1930\|date=28 April 2017\|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> ~~Estimates at the time~~ put the death toll ~~from the shooting at~~ between the official count at 20, and the figure of 400 ~~dead~~ put forth by Pakistani and Indian sources.<ref name="auto"/> The ~~gunning down~~ of unarmed people triggered protests across British India and catapulted the newly formed ~~''[[~~Khudai Khidmatgar~~]]''~~ movement into prominence.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Qissa Khwani's tale of tear and blood \|first=Kazi \|last=Sarwar \|date=20 April 2002 \|url=http://www.statesman.com.pk \|publisher=Statesman.com.pk }}</ref>		The '''Qissa Khwani massacre'''<ref name="Old Name of Khwani">{{cite book \|last1=Yunus \|first1=Mohammed \|title=Persons, Passions & Politics \|date=1980 \|publisher=Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd \|location=New Delhi \|isbn=0-7069-1017-6 \|page=6}}</ref> ({{langx\|ps\|د قصه خوانۍ بازار خوڼۍ پېښه}}) in [[Peshawar]], [[North-West Frontier Province]], [[British India]] (modern day [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]]) on 23 April 1930 was an armoured [[vehicle-ramming attack]] and [[mass shooting]] of the unarmed civilian [[Freedom fighter\|freedom fighters]] by the British colonial troops, which consequently became one of the defining moments of the [[Indian independence movement\|independence movement in British India]].

			It was the first major confrontation between the [[British Indian Army]] and demonstrators in the city belonging to Abdul Ghaffar Khan's non-violent [[Khudai Khidmatgar]] (servants of God) movement against the British colonial government.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/massacre-at-qissa-khwani-bazaar-1930/\|title=Massacre at Qissa Khwani Bazaar, 1930\|date=28 April 2017\|access-date=30 May 2020\|archive-date=22 April 2021\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422062814/https://www.thefridaytimes.com/massacre-at-qissa-khwani-bazaar-1930/\|url-status=dead}}</ref>

			Contemporary estimates put the death toll between the official count of 20 and the figure of 400 put forth by Pakistani and Indian sources.<ref name="auto"/> The shooting of unarmed people triggered protests across British India and catapulted the newly formed Khudai Khidmatgar movement into prominence.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Qissa Khwani's tale of tear and blood \|first=Kazi \|last=Sarwar \|date=20 April 2002 \|url=http://www.statesman.com.pk/ \|publisher=Statesman.com.pk \|access-date=16 April 2007 \|archive-date=13 April 2007 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070413014610/http://www.statesman.com.pk/ \|url-status=dead }}</ref>

	==Background==		==Background==
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	Simultaneous demonstrations were led by a cross section of civil society in and around Peshawar, led by Maulana Abdur Rahim Popalzai against discriminatory laws like the [[Frontier Crimes Regulation]] against the people of the province.		Simultaneous demonstrations were led by a cross section of civil society in and around Peshawar, led by Maulana Abdur Rahim Popalzai against discriminatory laws like the [[Frontier Crimes Regulation]] against the people of the province.

	==Clashes ~~at the Qissa Khwani bazaar~~==		==Clashes==
	After other ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' leaders were arrested, a large crowd of the group gathered at the Qissa Khwani bazaar. As troops of the British Indian Army (BIA) moved into the bazaar, the crowd was loud and stones were thrown. A BIA dispatch rider was killed and his body burned.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Riots in Peshawar, 1930 (NAM. 1977-02-39-2) \|type=photo \|url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1977-02-39-2 \|publisher=[[National Army Museum]] \|access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref> Two BIA armored cars drove into the square at high speed, killing several people. It is claimed that the crowd continued their commitment to non-violence, offering to disperse if they could gather their dead and injured, and if the British Indian Army left the square. The BIA refused to leave, so the protesters remained with the dead and injured.<ref name=johansen/> At that point, the BIA officers present ordered their troops to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd.<ref name="habib">"Civil Disobedience 1930-31". Social Scientist (September – October 1997) (Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No. 9/10) 25 (9–10): pp. 43–66. {{doi\|10.2307/3517680}}. Retrieved 2007-12-03.</ref> The Khudai Khidmatgar members willingly faced bullets, responding without violence. Instead, many members repeated 'God is ~~Great'~~(اللہُ اکبر) and clutched the [[Quran\|Qur'an]] as they were shot.<ref name=johansen/>		After other ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' leaders were arrested, a large crowd of the group gathered at the Qissa Khwani bazaar. As troops of the British Indian Army (BIA) moved into the bazaar, the crowd was loud and stones were thrown. A BIA dispatch rider was killed and his body burned.<ref>{{cite web \|title=Riots in Peshawar, 1930 (NAM. 1977-02-39-2) \|type=photo \|url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1977-02-39-2 \|publisher=[[National Army Museum]] \|access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref> Two BIA armored cars drove into the square at high speed, killing several people. It is claimed that the crowd continued their commitment to non-violence, offering to disperse if they could gather their dead and injured, and if the British Indian Army left the square. The BIA refused to leave, so the protesters remained with the dead and injured.<ref name=johansen/> At that point, the BIA officers present ordered their troops to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd.<ref name="habib">"Civil Disobedience 1930-31". Social Scientist (September – October 1997) (Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No. 9/10) 25 (9–10): pp. 43–66. {{doi\|10.2307/3517680}}. Retrieved 2007-12-03.</ref> The Khudai Khidmatgar members willingly faced bullets, responding without violence. Instead, many members repeated "God is great"(اللہُ اکبر) and clutched the [[Quran\|Qur'an]] as they were shot.<ref name=johansen/>

	[[File:Qissakhwanibazaarmassacre.jpg\|thumb\|left\|British Indian Army soldiers in Peshawar during the demonstrations]]		[[File:Qissakhwanibazaarmassacre.jpg\|thumb\|left\|British Indian Army soldiers in Peshawar during the demonstrations]]

	The exact number of deaths remains controversial— official figures give 20 dead<ref>The Times 28 April 1930</ref> while nationalist sources claimed several hundred were killed, with many more wounded. Two platoons of a respected British Indian Army regiment, the [[The Garhwal Rifles\|Royal Garhwal Rifles]], refused to board buses that were to take them into Peshawar for anti-riot duty.<ref>{{cite book\|first=Philip\|last=Mason\|pages=451–452\|title=A Matter of Honour\|isbn=978-0-333-41837-6\|year=1986}}</ref> A British civil servant wrote later that "hardly any regiment of the Indian Army won greater glory in the Great War (World War I) than the Garhwal Rifles, and the defection of part of the regiment sent shock waves through India, of apprehension to some, of exultation to others."<ref name=johansen/> The NCOs of the two platoons, including one led by Hawaldar Major Chandra Singh Garhwali, involved were sentenced to terms of up to eight years imprisonment.<ref name=habib/>		The exact number of deaths remains controversial— official figures give 20 dead<ref>The Times 28 April 1930</ref> while nationalist sources claimed several hundred were killed, with many more wounded. Two platoons of a respected British Indian Army regiment, the [[The Garhwal Rifles\|Royal Garhwal Rifles]], refused to board buses that were to take them into Peshawar for anti-riot duty.<ref>{{cite book\|first=Philip\|last=Mason\|pages=451–452\|title=A Matter of Honour\|isbn=978-0-333-41837-6\|year=1986\|publisher=Macmillan }}</ref> A British civil servant wrote later that "hardly any regiment of the Indian Army won greater glory in the Great War (World War I) than the Garhwal Rifles, and the defection of part of the regiment sent shock waves through India, of apprehension to some, of exultation to others."<ref name=johansen/> The NCOs of the two platoons, including one led by Hawaldar Major Chandra Singh Garhwali, involved were sentenced to terms of up to eight years imprisonment.<ref name=habib/>

	The violence continued for six hours. [[Gene Sharp]], who has written a study of [[nonviolent resistance]], describes the scene on that day:		The violence continued for six hours. [[Gene Sharp]], who has written a study of [[nonviolent resistance]], describes the scene on that day:
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	King George VI subsequently knighted Naimatullah Chaudhry. Naimatullah personally surveyed the area of [[massacre]] and published a 200-page report criticizing the actions of the British Indian Army.		King George VI subsequently knighted Naimatullah Chaudhry. Naimatullah personally surveyed the area of [[massacre]] and published a 200-page report criticizing the actions of the British Indian Army.

	Olaf Caroe, then secretary to the Chief Commissioner, gave the following report of the event ('Public and Judicial Department. Civil Disobedience Campaign in NWFP. Response to Patel allegations'. British Library reference number L/PJ/6/2007):<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Shamsie\|first1=Kamila\|title=A God in Every Stone\|date=2014\|publisher=Bloomsbury\|location=London\|isbn=978-1408847206}}</ref>		Olaf Caroe, then secretary to the Chief Commissioner, gave the following report of the event ("Public and Judicial Department. Civil Disobedience Campaign in NWFP. Response to Patel allegations". British Library reference number L/PJ/6/2007):<ref>{{cite book\|last1=Shamsie\|first1=Kamila\|title=A God in Every Stone\|date=2014\|publisher=Bloomsbury\|location=London\|isbn=978-1408847206}}</ref>

	<blockquote>		<blockquote>
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	==See also==		==See also==
	*[[~~Babrra~~ massacre]]
	*[[~~Kharqamar incident~~]]		* Massacre of Indian civilians by British Colonisers
	*[[~~Takkar~~ massacre]]		** [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]
	*[[Spin Tangi massacre]]		** [[Munshiganj Raebareli massacre]]
			** [[Salanga massacre]]
			** [[Spin Tangi massacre]]
			** [[Takkar massacre]]
			** [[Vellaloor massacre]]
			** [[Vidurashwatha massacre]]

	== References ==		== References ==
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	[[Category:Pakistan Movement]]		[[Category:Pakistan Movement]]
	[[Category:Conflicts in 1930]]		[[Category:Conflicts in 1930]]
	[[Category:~~History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa~~]]		[[Category:20th century in North-West Frontier Province]]
	[[Category:Massacres in British India]]		[[Category:Massacres in British India]]
	[[Category:Massacres in Pakistan]]		[[Category:Massacres in Pakistan]]
	[[Category:Massacres committed by the United Kingdom]]		[[Category:Massacres committed by the United Kingdom]]
	[[Category:~~History of~~ Peshawar]]		[[Category:Mass murders in Peshawar]]
	[[Category:Political repression in British India]]		[[Category:Political repression in British India]]
	[[Category:~~Protest-related deaths~~]]		[[Category:Massacres of protesters in Asia]]
	[[Category:1930 in India]]		[[Category:1930 in India]]
	[[Category:1930 in British India]]		[[Category:1930 in British India]]
	[[Category:April 1930 ~~events]]~~		[[Category:April 1930 in Asia]]
	~~[[Category:Mass murder~~ in ~~1930~~]]
	[[Category:1930 murders in India]]		[[Category:1930 murders in India]]
			[[Category:20th-century mass murders in Pakistan]]

Ajay Kumar: Created a new article

2023-08-18T06:29:20Z

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{{Short description|Event during the independence movement in British India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox terrorist attack
|title=Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre<br>{{lang|ps|د قصه خوانۍ بازار خونړۍ پېښه}}
|image=BritishIndianArmysoldiers.jpg
|caption= British Indian troops in Peshawar during the demonstrations
|location=[[Peshawar]], [[North-West Frontier Province]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br>{{small|(Present-day [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]])}}
|target= ''[[Khudai Khidmatgar]]'' protestors
|date={{start date and age|1930|4|23|df=yes}}
|time-begin=
|url=
|time-end=
|timezone=
|type= [[Massacre]]
|fatalities=*20 demonstrators killed according to official reports
*400 demonstrators killed according to local sources<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/299566 |title=Peshawar: Qissa Khwani martyrs remembered |date=24 April 2008 |publisher=Dawn.com |access-date=24 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410201709/https://www.dawn.com/news/299566 |archive-date=10 April 2018}}</ref>
| perpetrators=[[British Indian Army]]
|publisher=
|accessdate=
|last=
|first=
}}

The '''Qissa Khwani massacre'''<ref name="Old Name of Khwani">{{cite book |last1=Yunus |first1=Mohammed |title=Persons, Passions & Politics |date=1980 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd |location=New Delhi |isbn=0-7069-1017-6 |page=6}}</ref> ({{lang-ps|د قصه خوانۍ بازار خوڼۍ پېښه}}) in [[Peshawar]], [[North-West Frontier Province]], [[British India]] (modern day [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Pakistan]]) on 23 April 1930 was one of the defining moments of the independence movement in British India. It was the first major confrontation between the [[British Indian Army]] and demonstrators in the city, belonging to Abdul Ghaffar Khan's non-violent Khudai Khidmatgar (servants of God) movement against the British colonial government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefridaytimes.com/massacre-at-qissa-khwani-bazaar-1930/|title=Massacre at Qissa Khwani Bazaar, 1930|date=28 April 2017|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> Estimates at the time put the death toll from the shooting at between the official count at 20, and the figure of 400 dead put forth by Pakistani and Indian sources.<ref name="auto"/> The gunning down of unarmed people triggered protests across British India and catapulted the newly formed ''[[Khudai Khidmatgar]]'' movement into prominence.<ref>{{cite web |title=Qissa Khwani's tale of tear and blood |first=Kazi |last=Sarwar |date=20 April 2002 |url=http://www.statesman.com.pk |publisher=Statesman.com.pk }}</ref>

==Background==
The ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' (literally ''Helpers in the name of God''), led by [[Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan]], were a group of Muslims committed to the removal of British colonial rule through non-violent methods. On 23 April 1930, Ghaffar Khan was arrested after giving a speech in Utmanzai urging resistance to British colonial rule. Ghaffar Khan's reputation for uncompromising integrity and commitment to non-violence inspired most of the local townspeople to take the oath of membership and join the ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' in protest.<ref name="johansen">Johansen, p. 62.</ref>

Simultaneous demonstrations were led by a cross section of civil society in and around Peshawar, led by Maulana Abdur Rahim Popalzai against discriminatory laws like the [[Frontier Crimes Regulation]] against the people of the province.

==Clashes at the Qissa Khwani bazaar==
After other ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' leaders were arrested, a large crowd of the group gathered at the Qissa Khwani bazaar. As troops of the British Indian Army (BIA) moved into the bazaar, the crowd was loud and stones were thrown. A BIA dispatch rider was killed and his body burned.<ref>{{cite web |title=Riots in Peshawar, 1930 (NAM. 1977-02-39-2) |type=photo |url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1977-02-39-2 |publisher=[[National Army Museum]] |access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref> Two BIA armored cars drove into the square at high speed, killing several people. It is claimed that the crowd continued their commitment to non-violence, offering to disperse if they could gather their dead and injured, and if the British Indian Army left the square. The BIA refused to leave, so the protesters remained with the dead and injured.<ref name=johansen/> At that point, the BIA officers present ordered their troops to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd.<ref name="habib">"Civil Disobedience 1930-31". Social Scientist (September – October 1997) (Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No. 9/10) 25 (9–10): pp. 43–66. {{doi|10.2307/3517680}}. Retrieved 2007-12-03.</ref> The Khudai Khidmatgar members willingly faced bullets, responding without violence. Instead, many members repeated 'God is Great'(اللہُ اکبر) and clutched the [[Quran|Qur'an]] as they were shot.<ref name=johansen/>

[[File:Qissakhwanibazaarmassacre.jpg|thumb|left|British Indian Army soldiers in Peshawar during the demonstrations]]

The exact number of deaths remains controversial— official figures give 20 dead<ref>The Times 28 April 1930</ref> while nationalist sources claimed several hundred were killed, with many more wounded. Two platoons of a respected British Indian Army regiment, the [[The Garhwal Rifles|Royal Garhwal Rifles]], refused to board buses that were to take them into Peshawar for anti-riot duty.<ref>{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Mason|pages=451–452|title=A Matter of Honour|isbn=978-0-333-41837-6|year=1986}}</ref> A British civil servant wrote later that "hardly any regiment of the Indian Army won greater glory in the Great War (World War I) than the Garhwal Rifles, and the defection of part of the regiment sent shock waves through India, of apprehension to some, of exultation to others."<ref name=johansen/> The NCOs of the two platoons, including one led by Hawaldar Major Chandra Singh Garhwali, involved were sentenced to terms of up to eight years imprisonment.<ref name=habib/>

The violence continued for six hours. [[Gene Sharp]], who has written a study of [[nonviolent resistance]], describes the scene on that day:
<blockquote>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.</blockquote>

==Aftermath==
In Peshawar and the surrounding area, the ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' experienced some of the most extreme crackdowns against the [[Indian independence movement]]. Ghaffar Khan later wrote that this was because the British colonial government thought a non-violent Pashtun was more dangerous than a violent one; claiming that this led them to repeatedly provoke the movement into becoming violent, with little effect.<ref name=johansen/>

The massacre created numerous instances of unrest throughout British India. This resulted in [[King George VI]] (Emperor of India) launching a legal investigation into this matter. The British Commission brought the case forward to Chief Justice Naimatullah Chaudhry, a distinguished Judge of the Lucknow protectorate.

King George VI subsequently knighted Naimatullah Chaudhry. Naimatullah personally surveyed the area of [[massacre]] and published a 200-page report criticizing the actions of the British Indian Army.

Olaf Caroe, then secretary to the Chief Commissioner, gave the following report of the event ('Public and Judicial Department. Civil Disobedience Campaign in NWFP. Response to Patel allegations'. British Library reference number L/PJ/6/2007):<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shamsie|first1=Kamila|title=A God in Every Stone|date=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|isbn=978-1408847206}}</ref>

<blockquote>
″I received a note on 23rd April evening from Sir Norman Bolton asking me to do what I could to arrange for the burial of as many of the casualties as possible during the night, in order to avoid the danger of a fresh riot occurring over the funeral procession. I spoke to R.S. Mehr Chand Khanna and asked him to bring me some of the leading Khilafists at the Municipal Library. He brought M. Abdurrab Nishtar; M. Ataullah Jan, Municipal Commissioner; M. Aurangzeb Khan, Vakil; Qazi Mohd Aslam, Vakil.

I informed these persons what was required and asked for their co-operation as peace-loving citizens and good Muslims. They agreed to do what they could and asked me to arrange for lorries, saying they would persuade the relatives to agree. I arranged for lorries through Shahji – one of C.C.’s orderlies – who is I believe a Peshawari and a Syed. During the night in this way we sent away seven or eight bodies in lorries. Some of them had no relatives and arrangements were made to pay for a mullah and to carry through the obsequies with all regard to religious rites. The next day Qazi Mohd Aslam came to see me and said that he was making himself unpopular by assisting in the matter. He gave me to understand that he could do no more. I fancy that the association of these four men with the action taken will put an end to any attempt to make capital of the incident.″
</blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Babrra massacre]]
*[[Kharqamar incident]]
*[[Takkar massacre]]
*[[Spin Tangi massacre]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.63231/page/n1 ''Indian National Congress Peshawar Enquiry Committee'']. Working Committee of the Indian National Congress. Bombay: Government Press (1930)
*{{cite journal |last=Habib |first=Irfan |author-link=Irfan Habib |title=Civil Disobedience 1930-31 |journal=Social Scientist |volume=25 |issue=9–10 |pages=43–66 |date=September–October 1997|doi=10.2307/3517680 |jstor=3517680 }}
*Popalzai, Dr Abdul Jalil (24 April 2004). [https://archive.today/20130127064017/http://khyberwatch.com/nandara/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=364&Itemid=38 The KhyberWatch]. Last accessed 26 February 2008
*{{cite journal |last=Johansen |first=Robert C. |title=Radical Islam and Nonviolence: A Case Study of Religious Empowerment and Constraint Among Pashtuns |journal=Journal of Peace Research |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=53–71 |year=1997 |doi=10.1177/0022343397034001005|s2cid=145684635 }}

{{Pakistan Movement}}
{{Indian independence movement}}

[[Category:1930 protests]]
[[Category:Massacres in 1930]]
[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Pakistan Movement]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1930]]
[[Category:History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]]
[[Category:Massacres in British India]]
[[Category:Massacres in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Massacres committed by the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of Peshawar]]
[[Category:Political repression in British India]]
[[Category:Protest-related deaths]]
[[Category:1930 in India]]
[[Category:1930 in British India]]
[[Category:April 1930 events]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1930]]
[[Category:1930 murders in India]]