CHARSADDA: The Awami National Party (ANP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Aimal Wali Khan vowed to reopen the case of “Babrra massacre” after coming into power in the province.
Talking with the media in Babrra village, Charsadda, Khan said that the ANP is observing 12 August as “black day” to pay homage to the sacrifices of more than 600 Pashtuns who were allegedly killed in 1948 during a protest. On the occasion, the ANP provincial president Aimal Wali Khan laid a flower wreath at the memorial of Babrra massacre.
In August 1948, the people of Pakistan were preparing for the first anniversary of independence on August 14, 1948. Just two days before the anniversary, a report from the village of Babrra in the present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the then NWFP town of Charsadda reported that more than 600 protesters were allegedly killed in an operation by the government of Chief Minister Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan. Aimal Wali Khan said that they had gathered to protest against the arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the leader of Khudai Khidmatgar movement.
However, the government rejected the claim that six hundred people were killed, claiming that as a result of the firing, 25 people were killed and 35 injured. But unofficial reports estimate put the death toll at more than 600, claiming that most of the bodies were “mysteriously disposed of” while the injured were not allowed to enter government hospitals and were denied medical treatment.
In his addressed to the gathering, the ANP leader said that the ANP has no personal enmity with anyone. “The selected government and its agents will not be allowed to shed the blood of ANP workers,” Aimal Wali said. He vowed that the ANP will take all possible steps to take the Babrra tragedy case forward and identify all those responsible for this tragedy.