Asmat Khan, 60, runs a small green tea shop in southern corner of the famous Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar.
Khan had never imagined that one day his business of selling green tea would be in a crises due to the wave of terrorism in the city. The customers are decreasing day by day. However, he is still hopeful that one day this city will be once again become a symbol of peace and his business will be restored.
“I have been working here for the past 45 years. I was only 15 when I started working with my father and grandfather in the same green tea shop. Our family had shifted to the city from tribal areas. Qissa Khawani was famous for the storytellers and the rich cultural heritage. My father always narrates the stories of traders who came from Amritsar of India and stayed in Qissa Khawani for a night and then go to Afghanistan through Khyber Pass. The caravans that also came from Afghanistan stayed here in the bazaar. Then early morning, when the gates of markets opened, they left for India through Wagah Border. There were gates in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar. They were closed after 11pm so the traders never felt insecure in the market. People gathered here from various religions and cultures and discussed political and other issues. There were storytellers in the market that charged money from caravans and then for the whole night, they would tell stories especially related to the Pashtoon folk lore and as well the stories of Pashtoon conflicts on both sides of the Durand-line. The people also listened to the stories of old kings who ruled here in the valley,” he said.
“There was peace in the city. Foreigners from different countries came to the green tea shops. They purchased different cultural things from here. After 9/11, the city witnessed a bloodbath. Qissa Khawani saw more than 12 bomb blasts. There were hundreds of casualties,” Asmat said.
Qissa Khawani was famous for its cultural heritage as well for the storytelling. Peshawar’s British commissioner Herbert Edwards had called it the Piccadilly of South Asia. This area has old buildings dating back a hundred years. The market is the birthplace of Yousaf Khan now Dilip Kumar, the legendary Bollywood actor. He was born here on December 11, 1922. He belongs to the Hindku family of Awan.
Dilip Kumar was born in Muhalla Khudadad. Then his family shifted to India. King of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan’s house is still here. The Kapoor family’s ancestral houses are in Dahki Nalbandi street of Peshawar. Dilip Kumar visited the city twice in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar.
A researcher and historian Fidaullah from Peshawar said that Qissa Khawani was the place of discussions on world political situations as well the hub of Pashtoons and Hindku people. “They used to sit in green tea shops as well on the other shops. The war and terror has broken the fabric of this rich cultural place. Now people feel afraid whenever they visit the market due to suicide attacks. Qissa Khwani was not only famous for the story telling, but also a symbol of those faces who struggled for freedom from the British colonialism in the sub-continent. When Mahatma Gandhi announced the civil disobedience movement against the British in the sub-continent, Bacha Khan of Wali Bagh, Charsadda, the prominent leader of the Khudai Khidmatgar Movement followed the decision of Congress after Mahatma requested them to speed up activities against the British. Then protests started against the British. On 22 and 23 April 1930, the British arrested prominent leaders of Congress and Sabah and shifted them to the Kabuli police station and Balahisar Fort,” he said.
Researcher Syed Waqar Ali said: “On the early morning of April 23, the news about the arrests spread. People gathered in front of the Congress office. They started chanting slogans ‘Long Live Revolution’ and “Mahatama Gandhi ki jie’. People were enraged. They were going to the Kabuli Police Station, but their leaders advised them to keep calm and remain peaceful. As the protestors were in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar, an armored car appeared. Without any alarm, it rushed into the crowed and crushed 14 people under its wheels. Seven people died on the spot while others were critically injured. On the same day, the British soldiers opened fire on the protestors, killing 30 people. According to the Congress, two to three hundred people died that day. The martyrs are remembered as the martyrs of 1937 in the history of Qissa Khawani,” he sadi.
Fidaullah said that after the partition, the Qissa Khawani’s green tea shops were the centers of political workers as they sat there for discussion. “However, after 9/11, Qissa Khawani was targeted repeatedly by terrorists,” he said.
Asmat narrated the same story. “Peshawar was the main target of the war on terror. After the blasts, a very few people visited Qissa Khawani. The green tea shops were in a crisis. These were the reasons that the shops decreased to 100 from 300. Due to blast occurred the business of the Peshawar stopped for months and when some positive signs appeared of restorations another blast occur so the economy of the green tea shop badly suffered. War on terror, the huge electricity bills as well the other increasing expenses were also the factors which harmed the culture of Qissa Khawani. People’s shops were destroyed in bomb blasts, but the compensation offered by government did not meet their needs. So people in the market shifted to other cities or quit business due to the fear of terrorism,” he said.
On September 29, 2013, a car loaded with 200 kilograms of explosive material blew up in the crowded market of the Qissa Khawani. A total of 42 people died. A prominent leader of the ANP and member of Provincial Assembly Bashir Ahmad Bilour was targeted through a suicide attack on December 22, 2012 when he was leaving after attending a meeting in party office in the premises of Qissa Khawani. Once again, the city of storytellers saw a blood bath,” he said.
Karim Khan, 42, runs a green tea shop. He fears and wants to move out of the city as soon as possible
“Earlier, when we visited the bazaar, there were hundreds of people from different religions and cultures sitting together. Shops remained open till late night. Qissa Khawani was the hub of interfaith harmony and cultural diversity. People from Sikh, Hindu and Christian religion were living here in the area. Qissa Khawani was the place of rest and peace. Whenever, we got tense in the office or home we move to the market to enjoy. But now whenever we come out of home, we fell tense and try to stay away from crowded places. I have witnessed various targets killings, bomb and suicide blasts in the market, so I want to run home early. Whenever we visited this market in the past, there were people from US, UK and other countries, moving freely in the market, but now it seems that Qissa Khawani has changed. We have lost our friends, relatives in the war on terror,” he said.
As peace is restored in the valley, Balahisar Fort still exists. It recalls harsh memories of British colonialism.,” he said, adding that Shuhada in the Qissa Khawani Bazaar, called the memories of civil disobedience and the genocide of congress workers.
Published in Daily Times, December 11th 2017.
