The Babrra Massacre occurred on August 12, 1948, in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).
According to official data, approximately 15 protestors were killed and approximately 40 were injured.
According to Khudai Khidmatgar reports, over 150 people were killed and 400 were injured.
It occurred on the orders of the NWFP’s chief minister, Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri (not to be confused with Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan, the NWFP’s first chief minister during the British Raj).
Background
Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan), a pioneer in the Indian independence movement, led the Khudai Khidmatgar, a nonviolent peaceful Pashtun movement.
The movement primarily concentrated on reforming the Pashtuns’ condition under the British Raj, and eventually on the independence of colonial India from British authority.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the movement’s leader, was a supporter of United India and wanted the North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to join.
Until 1930, the Pashtuns had little involvement in politics.
In the 1937 Indian provincial elections, the movement won the North-West Frontier Province in collaboration with the Congress Party, with Bacha Khan’s brother, Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (Dr Khan Sahib), becoming the province chief minister.
In the 1946 Indian provincial elections, the movement likewise obtained an absolute majority.
Despite the Bannu Resolution, which urged that the province become Pashtunistan or join Afghanistan, the British refused and only provided two options: join an independent India or join the nascent nation of Pakistan.
The NWFP joined the Dominion of Pakistan as a result of a plebiscite boycotted by the Khudai Khidmatgar in 1947.
Babrra massacre of 1948
Before the Babrra Massacre, the Governor-General of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, dismissed Dr Khan Sahib’s elected provincial cabinet in the North-West Frontier Province.
On August 23, 1947, Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri, a Muslim League leader, was named as the NWFP’s new chief minister.
The new province government imprisoned the head of the anti-Pakistan Khudai Khidmatgar movement, Bacha Khan, as well as the deposed chief minister, Dr Khan Sahib, and several other significant personalities from the region.
Ambrose Flux Dundas, the governor of the NWFP, issued an edict in July 1948 authorising the provincial administration to imprison anyone and take their property without giving a reason.
On 12 August 1948, supporters of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement protested against the arrest of their leaders and the new ordinance enforced by the government.
The protesters marched from Charsadda to Babrra ground.
However, when they reached Babrra ground, Abdul Qayyum Khan ordered the police to open fire on protesters.
According to official figures, around 15 protestors were killed while around 40 were injured. However, Khudai Khidmatgar sources maintained that around 150 were killed and 400 were injured.
Aftermath
In mid-September 1948, the central government of Pakistan banned the Khudai Khidmatgar movement and many of its supporters were arrested.
The provincial government destroyed the centre of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement at Sardaryab, Charsadda District.
