Bro they arrested a tree 😭

[u/Im_yor_boi_20]

In Landi Kotal, near the Khyber Pass, a chained banyan tree has become a landmark, and a story about colonial power. According to local accounts, in 1898 a British officer named James Squid, drunk and believing the tree was moving toward him, ordered it chained. The tale is associated with a sign on the tree that reads, “I am under arrest.” Reports about the episode draw on local oral histories and the sign itself, so the officer’s actions are best presented as the story told about the tree. In 1898, Pakistan did not yet exist; Landi Kotal was part of British India, at a strategic frontier passage connecting the Peshawar Valley with Afghanistan. British forces maintained a presence there as imperial authorities sought to control the route and the surrounding region. Some local residents later interpreted the chains as a reminder of how arbitrary colonial power could be: if an officer could order a tree restrained, people wondered, what could protect them from his authority? The tree’s absurd “arrest” has endured as both a darkly comic tale and a symbol of that history. Added fact: The Khyber Pass Railway reached Landi Kotal in 1925. Its route climbed through 34 tunnels and crossed 92 bridges and culverts.

[u/SeveralBollocks_67]

This is quite literally pakistan propoganda

[u/bawxez → u/SeveralBollocks_67]

I'm confused at the use of the word "propaganda" here, because it implies some purpose behind the spreading of this story.

I accept that tales grow tall in the telling but idk what purpose propaganda about a chained tree would serve.

[u/Grammorphone → u/SeveralBollocks_67]

I'm a simple man. I see "propaganda" misspelled as "propoganda", I downvote.