| Razakar | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1971 |
| Disbanded | 16 December 1971 |
| Allegiance |  Pakistan |
| Type | Gendarmerie Paramilitary Auxiliary force |
| Role | Internal security Counter-insurgency Light infantry |
| Size | 50,000[1] |
| Garrison/HQ | Khulna,Kushtia,Savar |
| Nickname(s) | Razakar Bahini |
| Engagements | Bangladesh Liberation War Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Tikka Khan |
TheRazakars (Urdu:رضا کارBengali:রাজাকার,lit. 'Volunteer') were agendarmerie andparamilitary force inEast Pakistan organised by GeneralTikka Khan in 1971.[2] They were organised as acounter-insurgency force to fightMukti Bahini militants in theBangladesh War of Independence, and played an infamous role in the 1971Bangladesh genocide. The Razakars were disbanded following Pakistan's defeat and surrender in the1971 Indo-Pakistani War.
Razakar is a Persian term meaning volunteer.[3] The formerBangladesh government denoted all collaborators of the Pakistan forces as Razakars.[2] This includes leaders, members ofEast Pakistan Central Peace Committee and even theChakma King, MaharajaTridev Roy.[2]
In Bangladesh today, Razakar is used as a pejorative term meaning"traitor" orJudas.[4]
In June 1971, the Ansar was disbanded and reconstituted as the Razakars.[5][6] Initially, they were controlled by theShanti Committee,[3] which was formed by several pro-Pakistani leaders includingNurul Amin andKhwaja Khairuddin.[7] Bangladeshi journalistShahriar Kabir alleges that the first recruits were 96Jamaat party members, who started training in an Ansar camp at Khan Jahan Ali Road, Khulna.[8][better source needed]
The East Pakistan Razakars Ordinance was promulgated on 2 August 1971 by the Governor of East Pakistan, Lieutenant GeneralTikka Khan.[9] The Ordinance stipulated the creation of a voluntary force to be trained and equipped by the Provincial Government.[9] Then, they were reorganized as members of thePakistan Army through an ordinance of theMinistry of Defence promulgated on 7 September 1971.[3] The Razakar force was placed under the command of Major General Mohammed Jamshed.[10] Organizational command of the Razakar Bahini was given to Abdur Rahim.[11]
The Razakar force was organised intobrigades of around 3,000–4,000 volunteers, mainly armed withlight Infantry weapons provided by thePakistan Army. Each Razakar brigade was attached as an auxiliary to two Pakistan regular army brigades, and their main function was to arrest and detain pro-independence Bengalis and Bengali nationalists. Suspects were tortured during custody and killed.[12][13][14] Razakars were trained by the Pakistan Army.[15]
The Razakars were paid by the Pakistan Army and provincial administration.[16] Leading supporters of a united Pakistan urged GeneralYahya Khan to increase the number of Razakars and given them more arms to extend their activities in East Pakistan.[17] They were advised "to uproot secessionists, antisocialists andNaxalites."[5]
Towards the end of 1971, increasing numbers of Razakars were deserting, as the end of the war approached and East Pakistan moved towards independence.[18]
During the war, the Pakistani Army committedgenocide on the populace. The Razakarmilitias actively supported their killings of an estimated 3,000,000 people.[19][20] They operatedconcentration camps[5] andused rape as weapon of war.[21][22]
The Razakars violatedGeneva Conventions of War by participating in numerous massacres of civilians.[23][24][25][26]
TheDakra massacre was an instance of one such massacre where 646Bengali Hindus were killed.[27]
Razakars allegedly killed Hindu civilians during the war. On 5 August 1971, six Hindus were killed by Razakars in Panti village under Kumarkhali sub-division.[28] They killed 3 Hindus in Sylhet and 19 Hindus in Jessore, Gopalganj and Chittagong hill tracts.[29][30]
During theBangladesh genocide of theBangladesh War of Independence, the Pakistan military[19] and severalmilitia organizations created by the Pakistani military violatedGeneva Conventions of War by participating innumerous massacres of civilians,[23][24][31][26] committed genocide of between 300,000 and 3 million civilians,[19][20] operatedconcentration camps,[5] andused rape as weapon of war[21][22] against Bengali Muslim,Hindu andBuddhist minorities. Active collaborators of the Pakistan Military in perpetuation of genocide and ethnic cleansing in East Pakistan includeAl Badr,[32][33]Al Shams,[34]East Pakistan Central Peace Committee,[35]Razakars,[2]Muslim League,[36]Mujahid Bahini.Bangladesh Genocide Remembrance Day honors the victims of genocide.
Following the surrender of the Pakistani troops on 16 December 1971 and the proclamation of independence ofBangladesh, the Razakar units were dissolved. The Jamaat party was banned, as it was accused of opposing independence. Many leading Razakars fled toPakistan (previouslyWest Pakistan).[2]
Waves of violence followed the official end of the war, and some lower-ranking Razakars were killed in reprisals byMukti Bahini militia.[citation needed] The government rounded up and imprisoned an estimated 36,000 men suspected of being Razakars. The government ultimately freed many of those held in jail, both in response to pressure from the United States and China, who backed Pakistan in the war, and to gain co-operation from Pakistan in obtaining the release of 200,000 Bengali-speaking military and civilian personnel who had been stranded or imprisoned in West Pakistan during the war.[37][unreliable source?]
In 2010, the Bangladesh Government set up anInternational Crimes Tribunal based on the International Crimes Tribunal Act 1973 to prosecute the people who committedwar crimes and crimes against humanities during the war in 1971. People of Pakistan who were not aware of their crimes due to censorship by the Yahya regime, openly welcomed their trials and even supported their public execution.[38][39][40]
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the Nayeb-e-Ameer ofJamaat, was convicted of eight charges of war crimes and alleged to be a member of the Razakars, was sentenced to death for two of them in February 2013.[41] However, the trial process has been termed as "politically motivated" by its critics, while the human rights groups recognised the tribunal as falling short of international standards.[42]
On 16 December 2019, the Government of Bangladesh published the names of 10,789 Razakars who collaborated with Pakistan's Army in carrying out atrocities against the Bengalis during the 1971 War.[2]
During the2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement to abolish or change the quota system that gave public benefits to descendants of pro-independence fighters, then prime ministerSheikh Hasina dismissively asked whether grandchildren of Razakars should get quota benefits. This spurred the protesters to spontaneously self-identify asRazakars toreappropriate the use of the term.[44]
The following summer [1971], ... [Abdur] Rahim chose to return voluntarily to East Pakistan and take up active duty on the side of the Pakistan authorities ... Rahim took organizational command of the notorious Razakar paramilitary forces.