PESHAWAR: With the Independence Day just a week away, national flags and green buntings are everywhere in the provincial capital from marketplaces to streets to buildings.

The historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar is no different as the people doing business there have joined the August 14 celebrations, which begin at the start of the month.

Most shop, restaurant and kiosk owners and their workers are putting on green clothes, while bookshops have decorated shelves with Independence Day items.

People, especially youngsters, are seen purchasing national flags and buntings, while children, including students, buy green dresses, hats, bangles and green items to display on their houses ahead of the Independence Day.

The green colour is all over the Qissa Khwani Bazaar.

Shopkeeper Zareen Gul told Dawn that high inflation rate didn’t dampen the spirits of the people, who were celebrating the upcoming Independence Day as allowed by their financial position.

He said his grandfather had set up that shop before the Partition and since then, his family had been dealing in the Independence Day-related stuff.

“We sell 75 items with the prices ranging between Rs75 and Rs7,500 apiece. We have customers from all age brackets who show up to get the goods best suited to their taste,” he said.

Historian Mohammad Ibrahim, who is the author of Peshawar Maaze Ke Dareechu Se, said Qissa Khwani Bazaar was witness to a number of tragedies, including the 1930 massacre and the Sept 2013 car bombing, while it also marked the 1948 Independence Day in style.

Most stationery and garment shops have replaced their routine stuff with green items as customers are more interested in them ahead of August 14.

Zakria Momand, another storekeeper in the bazaar, said his great grandfather’s four relatives were seriously injured in the 1930 Qissa Khwani massacre, while four of his own cousins were killed in the 2013 car blast.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2022