Tree in Pakistan remains ‘under arrest’ for 120 years

In 1898, a banyan tree located in Landi Kotal army cantonment area in present-day Pakistan was 'arrested' on the orders of a British Army officer.

Hundred and twenty-six years later, the tree's punishment continues.

It is still tied with a chain, probably to ensure that it doesn't try to escape.

You might be inclined to think otherwise, but this is not a joke. Today's issue of the Dawn, Pakistan's leading newspaper,featured a large photo of the tree.

According to the reports in several Pakistani newspapers, the story goes like this:

Over a hundred years ago, during the high noon of the British Empire, army officer James Squid saw an old banyan tree and thought that it was lurching towards him.

The officer, who was reportedly intoxicated, felt threatened by the tree and asked the mess sergeant to arrest it.

The mess sergeant followed the officer's orders and chained the offending tree.

Now, years later, it stands in the same spot with a board hanging on it that reads: "I am under arrest."

People often visit the area just to look at the incarcerated tree. "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," a local resident told the Tribune.

Landi Kotal is a small town situated in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

It is located at the western edge of the Khyber Pass that traditionally marks the entrance to Afghanistan.

"The tree is a constant reminder of injustice and unfair laws," said another resident.

Islam Khan Shinwari, the 60-year-old chief of Khogikheil tribe of Landi Kotal, said: "My grandfather Fateh Khan Shinwari told me that British army officer James was a ruthless man who put this tree in chains in 1898."

Shinwari said the place where the tree currently exists used to his ancestral property but at that time the British army had forcefully taken it from his family and built an officer’s mess there.

The tree, which is now on the grounds of Pakistan Army’s Landi Kotal cantonment, remains an attraction for tourists, foreigners and locals.

Ref: Tree in Pakistan remains ‘under arrest’ for 120 years (aa.com.tr)