ANP remembers Babara massacre

PESHAWAR: The Awami National Party (ANP) Wednesday organised several functions in different districts of the province to remember the martyrs of the tragic Babara massacre on August 12, 1948.
That day is considered one of the blackest days in the history of Pakhtuns. Nearly 700 people who were protesting the arrest of Khudai Khidmatgar leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Bacha Khan, and his two sons Abdul Wali Khan and Abdul Ghani Khan, were killed and thousands others injured in the tragedy when the security personnel opened fire on the peaceful protestors in Babara village of Charsadda district.
Since then, the ANP observes August 12 as Babara Martyrs Day every year. The main function is arranged at the spot of the massacre in Babara and Quran Khwani for the departed souls is arranged elsewhere in the province. A function was organised Wednesday at the mosque in Babara after which ANP central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain laid a floral wreath at the memorial of the martyrs.
The Malgari Doctoran, National Youth Organisation and Women Wing of ANP arranged Quran Khwani at the Bacha Khan Markaz, the central secretariat of ANP in Peshawar. A separate function was arranged in Nowshera.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain managed his presence at all three events in the three different districts. According to Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the Babara incident was no less than the greatest ever human tragedies. “It was only two day before the Independence Day when the non-violent members of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement were protesting the arrest of their leaders, the security forces were given orders to shoot by the then chief minister Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, who had been made the chief minister after overthrowing the democratic rule of Dr Khan Saib,” he recalled.
He said brutalities were committed to cause the tragedy. “Strict orders had been issued to doctors not to treat the injured people and many succumbed to their injuries. All the land routes to the area had been blocked. The people trying to reach the spot in boats in the rivers for relief of the victims were shot dead. Many bodies were also thrown in the nearby Jindi and Khiali rivers,” he said.
Mian Iftikhar said the protestors that day had set great examples of sacrifice. He stated that they were true followers of Bacha Khan’s philosophy of non-violence. They offered their chests to bullets and didn’t resist even though they were capable of resistance, he added.
He said that Spin Malang who was carrying the flag was the first to be shot at. “He fell on the ground but kept the flag high until another member of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement moved forward and took the flag from him,” Mian Iftikhar recalled. The ANP leader said that Bacha Khan had formed a force of uniformed volunteers and some 100,000 had joined it. “Many volunteers were put behind bars. Their properties and belongings were confiscated and sold. The reason behind the confiscation of valuables was that the operation had cost Rs50,000, which had to be recovered from them,” Mian Iftikhar maintained.