Qissa Khwani bazaar massacre
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The massacre of the Qissa Khawani Bazaar (the story tellers market) in Peshawar, 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.
When orders came to crack down on demonstrating civilians in the Qissa Khwani bazaar. The English troops had put advancing the Gorhwali 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."
[edit] Reference
- Popalzai, Dr Abdul Jalil (24 Apr 2004). The Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre. Available online at [1]. Last accessed on 26 February 2006
