Takkar massacre

The Takkar massacre (Pashto: د ټکر خونړۍ پېښه‎) was a massacre of non-violent Pashtun protesters committed by soldiers of the British Raj in Mardan, colonial India in 1930, just a month after committing the Qissa Khwani massacre in Peshawar.

The firing happened at Takkar in Mardan Tehsil on 30 May when local villagers attempted to stop soldiers from arresting activists of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement. In the ensuing shooting an English police officer called Murphy was killed. Three days later, a large force of troops attacked the village in retaliation.[1] Takkar was immortalised and folksongs were written to remember the tragedy. "Pa Takkar jang de golay warege," is still a popular and sorrowful folksong that depicted the village scene on the day of the British offensive on Takkar. According to the Pashto book Da Khpal Waakaye Tarun, 70 people were killed and 150 wounded in the violence unleashed by the British force. A monument has been built in order to praise the martyrs of The Takkar Massacre. Some of the dead were identified as Juma Syed, Sanobar Kaka, Said Buland Kaka, Zarawar Khan and Baghi Shah.[2]

This was followed by the August 1931 Hathikhel massacre in Bannu.