A TREE UNDER ARREST SINCE 1898...........
Even 67 years after British colonial rule came to an end, the tree’s punishment continues. Its chains are as unrelenting as its punishment.
Lining the panelled corridor of the cool, spotless officers' mess are photographs of moustachioed, turbaned warriors who were clearly not from the local Shinwari tribe. Young men called Warburton, Bradstock or Dumbarton, wearing turbans, sporting clipped moustaches and looking as if they are on a fancy dress safari. Lounging in wicker chairs and attended stiffly by servants in starched white livery.
Even 67 years after British colonial rule came to an end, the tree’s punishment continues. Its chains are as unrelenting as its punishment.
Lining the panelled corridor of the cool, spotless officers' mess are photographs of moustachioed, turbaned warriors who were clearly not from the local Shinwari tribe. Young men called Warburton, Bradstock or Dumbarton, wearing turbans, sporting clipped moustaches and looking as if they are on a fancy dress safari. Lounging in wicker chairs and attended stiffly by servants in starched white livery.
Capt Lockhart, Major Barton and Lt Bickford stared down from the wall,
alongside portraits of more recent officers of the Khyber Rifles.
In the heart of the Khyber Pass at Landi Kotal, the officers' mess of this venerable regiment is a remarkable time capsule, where the voices of those who once guarded the most dangerous frontier of Pax Britannica still seem to echo from the walls.
The most visible sign of their former presence is a walnut tree standing on the lawn, draped in heavy chains that bind it to the ground.
After a hard day patrolling the border and a particularly lengthy series of sun-downers, two British officers became convinced that the tree was moving. It is easy to imagine the red-faced officers, their minds marinated in whisky or gin.
"They were sure this tree was running away to Peshawar, so they ordered the Sergeant to put it under arrest. The tree is still under arrest,"
Through this act, the British basically implied to the tribesmen that if they dared act against the Raj, they too would be punished in a similar fashion.
The captive tree is seen by the locals as symbol of the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) legacy of the British Raj, laws drafted specifically for the purpose of countering Pashtun opposition to British rule. A century later and more, the laws continue to be applied to FATA residents, just as the walnut tree remains chained.
In the heart of the Khyber Pass at Landi Kotal, the officers' mess of this venerable regiment is a remarkable time capsule, where the voices of those who once guarded the most dangerous frontier of Pax Britannica still seem to echo from the walls.
The most visible sign of their former presence is a walnut tree standing on the lawn, draped in heavy chains that bind it to the ground.
After a hard day patrolling the border and a particularly lengthy series of sun-downers, two British officers became convinced that the tree was moving. It is easy to imagine the red-faced officers, their minds marinated in whisky or gin.
"They were sure this tree was running away to Peshawar, so they ordered the Sergeant to put it under arrest. The tree is still under arrest,"
Through this act, the British basically implied to the tribesmen that if they dared act against the Raj, they too would be punished in a similar fashion.
The captive tree is seen by the locals as symbol of the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) legacy of the British Raj, laws drafted specifically for the purpose of countering Pashtun opposition to British rule. A century later and more, the laws continue to be applied to FATA residents, just as the walnut tree remains chained.
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