Quetta: When a city crumbled

original title Thirty Seconds at Quetta: a belated book review! published in May 2009 -ed note
by Khadim Durrani 
Author: Robert Jackson
Book Title: Thirty Seconds at Quetta
Date Published: 1960
Publisher: Evans Brothers Limited. London.
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 248

Thirty seconds at Quetta is a book for anyone who is from Quetta or is interested in its history; most importantly it’s about the aftermath of the deadly earthquake of May 31st 1935 that razed Quetta and other earthquake stricken areas to the ground, killing between 30 and 60 thousand people and injuring thousands more. Never has this devastation been more vividly told than in this riveting, movingly fascinating book. It is also about a sub-chapter in the history of British colonial rule – a time when a large community of Indian migrants were living in Quetta! Furthermore, it highlights the historical setting of British military and civilian bureaucracy that was running the affairs of the region from its administrative seat in Quetta.

Coming from Quetta myself I can say the material presented in the book, with a few exceptions, seems to have been well researched and in this regard Mr Jackson gives a detailed list of documents and the names of officials that he consulted before writing the book. Besides describing at length how the rescue operations were conducted, the author focuses on the individual cases of courage, dedication and heroism of doctors and nurses, of rescuing soldiers and survivors, and on the courage of victims’ families; the author also recounts in some detail how the agent to the Governor-General Sir Norman Cater (the head of the Government administration) and General Karslake had to deal with a very difficult task of organizing the rescue operations in the wee hours of the morning – on the Residency lawn (now Governor House). Another interesting character that emerges in the story is that of Harkbir Tharpa (see Chapter 6, The Gurkhas). Tharpa was skinny but a strong Rifleman from Gurkha Rifles; he was gifted with possessing a range of hearing beyond the normal and could hear cries so faint that they were inaudible to others. On several occasions, he helped save people who were trapped in the rubble/debris. Later on, he was awarded the Albert Medal for his services during the earthquake.

In order to make it worth reading the author has beautifully blended the core facts with the touch of fiction, humour and in places with sarcasm. Given that he has never been to that part of the world, I would say he has definitely managed to weave a remarkable story – a story that becomes surreal when it starts sinking in that those who helped build Quetta (even called it Quetta) were not native people but foreigners and that they are no longer living amongst us! Only this book can give you that feeling, provided you are from Quetta.

The danger however for presenting the cocktail of facts and fiction is that people who do not have an in-depth knowledge of the region, about its history, traditions and its people, will believe blindly certain sweeping statements that the author has repeatedly made, on purpose, to exaggerate the situation and make the book worth reading. Perhaps his stereotypical perceptions are based on what he was told by the British Army Officers who were stationed in Quetta at the time. For example, a few odd cases of robbery or theft doesn’t mean the whole communities of ethnic Pashtoons, Baloch (or Baluch) and Brahui (or Brohi) should be labelled as thieves or robbers as has been alleged by the author. This kind of uninformed generalisation is very misleading and the author, in my opinion, has not been fair to the people of the region. I am sure the locals, as they are called these days, will find those derogatory passages very offensive and insulting; in my opinion this is where this marvellous narrative gets spoilt and tainted.

Perhaps the author was not mindful to the fact that at the time the British Imperial Forces were considered as the occupying forces in the region (that is the way they are now rightly perceived in Afghanistan and Iraq) and the attacks on them or any random acts of looting/robberies, if ever took place, could and should only have been explained in that context, and not by portraying the whole communities as bad people! Moreover, it is difficult to say whether Mr Jackson intended to use such a negative language against the tribesmen as part of his writing strategy to attract more readers by means of exaggeration or was he simply presenting the information that was communicated to him by the British Forces stationed in the region.

Furthermore, except for a few passing remarks about the native Pashtun and Baloch tribes of Quetta region and their location in Quetta (e.g., Kassi & Shahwanis) it is very ironic to find almost nothing about them in this book or what role did they play in the rescue operations, if at all! On the contrary, wherever the indigenous people were mentioned, they were presented in a bad way. The absence of material about the natives therefore renders this narrative a biased one. Had the author done a little bit more of a research to find out more about the lives of the local ethnic tribes who were unlike Indian migrants not part and parcel of the British colonial caravan but who strongly felt they were under occupation, the book would have done justice to the natives of Quetta and the region, and, would have acclaimed equal appreciation by them. Interestingly in a recent BBC Radio 4 programme that aired[i] the comments of the British survivors of the 1935 Quetta earthquake, a caller (an old lady) – who was in Quetta at the time of earthquake – was singing the same mantra about ‘Pathans’ that the author Robert Jackson mentions in the book. This shows clearly the extent to which people can get influenced by false propaganda.

In the end, despite its shortcomings, I would highly recommend this book[ii] to Quetta lovers and say this book is worth reading; it presents the most remarkable understanding of Quetta of 1930s. For controversial and provocative statements regarding tribesmen the author can be forgiven for being ignorant. It would equally be unfair, on our part, if we do not acknowledge the contribution of the author in preserving part of Quetta’s history that our elders so proudly called as ‘little London’.

- Khadim Durrani has Ph.D in Geology from France; he is currently residing in the UK and tweets under @KhadimDurrani.

Notes:

[i] The programme was broadcast in 2007 I happened to listen to it in May 2008 when I was searching for some historical material to write an article about Quetta earthquake of 1935. Had I listened to it on the day (I don’t know whether it was live or a pre-recorded programme) I would have definitely phoned in and communicated my concern about the sweeping generalisation that the old lady was making about ‘Pathans’.

[ii]By reading the book and other literature about Quetta one gets the impression as if the local – the indigenous Pashtoon and Baloch tribes – did not play any role during the rescue operations that followed the earthquake. It seems as if we the locals did not contribute much to the development of our city. The British Raj not only designed the city to meet the needs of their troops but they also brought in the skilled labour from various parts of Indian sub-continent: masons, carpenters, craftsmen, iron smith, mechanics etc. Most of these men and women chose to stay in Quetta even after the partition. A significant number of the migrated Indians were non-Muslims, of Hindu, Sikh and Christian creed. Though majority of Hindus and Sikhs left Quetta after the partition but many Christian families remained behind. Important thing to note is that they were free to practice their respective religions under the British Raj and they continue to enjoy the same religious freedom even today when unfortunately the Pakistani society has become less tolerant towards not only non-Muslim religious minorities but also towards one another!

The flipside of the story is the book did not and does not benefit a large section of Quetta residents as a) it is in the English language; b) because of that not known to the general public, hence, c) inaccessible to the general public. A good translation of this book would be indispensable and a great service to the people of Quetta, even 49 years after its publication.

Denigerating the Hazaras - I

by Dr. Mohammad Taqi

The post-1978 ethno-national revival of the Hazaras has been a subject of serious scholarship, which apparently Mr Marri is unaware of An article titled “Balochistan: sectarian strife or Hazara community targeted?” written by Mr Surat Khan Marri appeared in these pages this past weekend. The piece is not just an extremely callous one but is littered with factual inaccuracies too. Given the prevailing situation in Balochistan and the important position of Quetta, where most of the Pakistani Hazara community resides, it is pertinent to set the record straight. Mr Marri starts with a not-so-subtle attack on the ethnic origins and the social and political status of the Hazaras in Afghanistan. He wrote, “The Hazara community may claim to be descendants of the Great Khan of the Mongols or a remnant of the Mughals/Mongol conquerors of India via Afghanistan. However, in their recent abode, Afghanistan, they are considered and treated as of low-caste, compelled to work as sweepers and clean latrines, like some Christians in Pakistan and Harijans in India. In Afghanistan, they are in a considerable number, maybe half a million, but in Afghan challenges or wars against the British, Russians, the recent resistance termed as the war on terror, American and NATO aggression, the Hazara community in Afghanistan has no role. Afghans blame them for collaboration with the US and Pakistan.” I find Mr Marri’s slur no different than, and perhaps picked from, 14-pages that the Afghan Gazetteer had dedicated to the Hazaras or Mountstuart Elphinstone’s 1815 drivel against the Hazaras. It is well known that Elphinstone never went beyond Peshawar, and even there, he stayed about four months and gathered information from people who had been fighting the Hazaras for ages. 

There is no hiding the fact the Hazara of central Afghanistan have historically remained at odds with the Pashtun dynasties of Afghanistan and faced extermination at the hands of the latter. Persecuted communities and especially those forced into internal and external displacement doing hard labour — I would not even call it menial or odd jobs — is not an uncommon phenomenon around the world. But Mr Marri has thrown the epithet to rule out a political role for the Hazaras in Afghanistan, and by extension in Pakistan, as he states later. 

On the eve of the 1978 Saur Revolution in Afghanistan, the Hazaras, like most other Afghans, were active on both sides of the political divide. They were a part of the Marxist movement in the 1960s, especially in the Parcham faction of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Affiliation with the Parcham earned them the wrath of the Khalq faction, which imprisoned thousands of Parchamis during the intra-party feuds of 1978. With the rise of the Parcham leaders Babrak Karmal, and then Dr Najibullah to power, the Hazara leaders like Dr Sultan Ali Kishtmand and the brothers Syed Nasir Nadiri and Syed Mansur were restored to power. Dr. Kishtmand remained the prime minister of Afghanistan until parting ways with the PDPA in 1991. Syed Mansur’s forces in Shiberghan and Baghlan had the status of the official PDPA government militia. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the rural Hazara uprisings against the PDPA started as early as 1979, e.g. in Waras and Yakaolang and led to the formation of Shura-e-Inquilab-e-Ittifaq-e-Islami and its various reincarnations, including an eight-party Mujahedeen alliance, and then the Hizb-e-Wahdat party of Abdul Ali Mazari and Karim Khalili (currently the second vice president of Afghanistan). 

The post-1978 ethno-national revival of the Hazaras has been a subject of serious scholarship, which apparently Mr Marri is unaware of. Another allegation Mr. Marri has leveled is that the Quetta Hazaras somehow exploited the local Baloch welcome – he fails to mention the dominant Pashtuns as the host population – and switched loyalties first to the British and then to the succeeding state of Pakistan. He says:” On their migration to Balochistan, they enjoyed and felt comfortable living in a Baloch liberal and heterogeneous society. However, they soon realized that power and the future lay somewhere else. They allied themselves with British employers and camp followers and had friendly relations with local Baloch-Pashtun collaborators.” Mr. Marri alleges that the Hazaras of Quetta found new patrons in the new Pakistan Punjabi/Urdu speaking elite and somehow were given more than their due share in government services, especially the armed forces. This assertion ignores the fact along with Hazaras like Qazi Issa, Pashtuns like Nawab Muhammad Khan Jogezai and Baloch like Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti Shaheed had also embraced the new power players like Mr. MA Jinnah – the same “Karachiite” that Mr. Marri castigates elsewhere in the piece.

Mr Marri then writes, “Because of their (Hazara’s) allegiance to the new power, the rulers were of the opinion that this minority may replace and fill the vacuum created by the departure of the British army Gurkhas. The Pakistan army started recruiting a large number of Balochistan-based Hazaras, some of whom rose to the rank of general — General Musa being one example; brigadiers (Brigadier Sharbat), and other high ranks.” Sharbat Ali Changezi was a Hazara but not a brigadier. I know this because his children were my schoolmates in Pakistan Air Force School, Peshawar in the 1970s/80s. Air Marshal Changezi served multiple tours of duty at Peshawar at the PAF base and then the Air Headquarters. Out of the two servicemen, Mr. Marri names to make his case, he is wrong about both. Even his spiel about Hazaras being a replacement for the Gurkhas is a farfetched one. The British had formed a Hazara Pioneers regiment but it was already disbanded by 1933.

 One will be hard pressed to find names other than General Musa and AM Sharbat Changezi in the top tiers of the Pakistani armed forces. Officers like General Musa were absorbed into the Frontier Force regiment and no Hazara ‘Gurkha’ regiment ever existed in Pakistan. Mr Marri’s claim that made the lead was, “When General Musa became the governor of West Pakistan, he declared the Hazaras a local tribe of Balochistan through an ordinance.” This assertion needs vetting as the Political Agent Quetta-Pishin issued the final notification declaring Hazaras and three other Afghan tribes, viz Durrani, Yusafzai and Ghilzai, as local/indigenous tribesmen of Quetta on June 22, 1962. The notification refers to two letters dated February 19, 1962 and May 10, 1962 from the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions. The dates put Nawab Amir Muhammad Khan of Kalabagh as the governor West Pakistan and General Musa as army chief, not governor. Regardless, it is the xenophobic and sectarian undertones of Mr Marri’s article that are of primary concern in the evolving situation in Balochistan. (To be concluded)

Originally published in Daily Times on Thursday, 28 June 2012

 

The writer can be reached at mazdaki@me.com and he tweets at http://twitter.com/mazdaki