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The Spin Tangi massacre (Pashto: د سپین تنګي خونړۍ پېښه) or Hathikhel massacre (د هاتيخېلو خونړۍ پېښه) refers to the killing of about 80 non-violent Pashtun protesters by the Frontier Constabulary and the British Indian Army on 24 August 1930 at the Spin Tangi village near Domel, in the Bannu district of the North-West Frontier Province of British India.[1][2] This massacre was committed just three months after the Takkar massacre in Mardan and four months after the Qissa Khwani massacre in Peshawar.
| Spin Tangi massacre د سپین تنګي خونړۍ پېښه | |
|---|---|
| Location | Spin Tangi, Domel, Bannu, North-West Frontier Province, British India (now Pakistan) |
| Date | 24 August 1930 |
| Target | Khudai Khidmatgar activists |
Attack type | Mass murder, Massacre |
| Deaths | 80 protesters killed, about 300 arrested |
| Perpetrators | Frontier Constabulary, British Indian Army |
Throughout the summer of 1930 British authorities were seeking to break the communications of the Khudai Khidmatgar (KK) movement, and martial law was declared by the British on 16 August; they had banned both the KK and the Congress and had arrested Badshah Khan and others. A large protest gathering was organised at Hathikhel in Spin Tangi, by local Waziri tribal leaders and sympathizers of the KK movement, despite the restrictions of the British. A local Banuchi elder, Qazi Fazal Qadar, was fired upon by the arresting police, and in the ensuing violence some 80 protestors were killed and 300 were arrested. Captured in the violence, the wounded Qazi Fazal Qadar was dragged to the District Commissioner but died shortly afterwards. He was sentenced posthumously to 14 years imprisonment by the government, denied any religious rites and buried in Bannu prison.[3]
Some sources give the number of the dead as 70.[4]
See also
edit- Massacre of Indian civilians by British Colonisers troops
References
edit- ^ Correspondent, Our (24 August 2016). "In remembrance: ANP chief commemorates 1930 massacre - The Express Tribune". Tribune.com.pk. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "ANP to honour Hathi Khel massacre victims today - Newspaper". Dawn.Com. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ Maria J. Stephan, Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East ISBN 978-0-230-62140-4
- ^ Mukulika Banerjee, The Pathan unarmed: opposition & memory in the North West Frontier (2000), p. 59: "Government brutality intensified still further and on 24 August police fired on a protest meeting at Hathi Khel in Bannu district, killing seventy people."