The Spin Tangi massacre ( ps, د سپین تنګي خونړۍ پېښه) or Hathikhel massacre () refers to the killing of about 80 non-violent

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

protesters by the

Frontier Constabulary The Frontier Constabulary ( ur, ) is a federal paramilitary force of Pakistan under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, which is largely drawn from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but operates in several districts of Pakistan. It ...

and the British Indian Army on 24 August 1930 at the Spin Tangi village near

Domel Domel ( ps, ډومېل) also spelled as Domail is a main town in Domel tehsil of Bannu District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is also union council of Bannu District in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Domel is inhabited mostly by Ahmadzai ...

, in the Bannu district of the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. This massacre was committed just three months after the

Takkar massacre The Takkar massacre ( ps, د ټکر خونړۍ پېښه) was a massacre of non-violent Pashtun protesters committed by the British Indian Army in Mardan, British India on 28 May 1930, just a month after the Qissa Khwani massacre in Peshawar. The ...

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

and four months after the Qissa Khwani massacre in

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

. Throughout the summer of 1930 British authorities were seeking to break the communications of the

Khudai Khidmatgar Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...

(KK) movement, and

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

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 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. Some sources give the number of the dead as 70.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."

References

{{Reflist Massacres in 1930 Pakistan Movement Indian independence movement History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bannu District Conflicts in 1930 1930 in British India August 1930 events Massacres committed by the United Kingdom Massacres in British India

See also

References