Razakars (Pakistan)

Razakars was the name given to a paramilitary force organized by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The word, originating from Persian, literally means "volunteer". It was composed of mostly pro-Pakistani Bengalis and Urdu-speaking migrants to erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Initially, the force was under the command of local pro-Pakistani committees. But through the East Pakistan Razakar Ordinance (promulgated by General Tikka Khan on 1 June, 1971) and a Ministry of Defence, Pakistan, ordinance (promulaged 7 September,1971), Razakars were recognized as members of the Pakistan Army. Razakars were allegedly associated with many of the atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army during the 9-month war (see 1971 Bangladesh atrocities). The Razakars were organized into Brigades of around 3000-4000 volunteers , mainly armed with Light Infantry weapons provided by the Pakistani Army. Each Razakar Brigade was attached as an auxiliary to two Pakistani Regular Army Brigades , and their main function was to arrest and detain Bengali Nationalist suspects. Usually such suspects were often tortured to death in custody. The Razakars were trained in the conventional Army fashion by the Pakistan Army.

Following the liberation of East Pakistan as the independent country Bangladesh, most of the leading Razakars, allegedly including Ghulam Azam, fled to Pakistan. Ghulam Azam maintains, however, that he went to Pakistan to participate in the Annual General Meeting of his organization Jamaat-e-Islami, he was forced to remain overseas until General Ziaur Rahman allowed him to return to Bangladesh. Many of the lower ranking Razakars who remained in Bangladesh were killed in the course of reprisals immediately after the end of fighting while as many as 36,000 were imprisoned. Of the latter many were later freed mainly because of pressure from US and China who backed Pakistan in the war, and because Pakistan was holding 200,000 Bengali speaking military and civilian personnel who were stranded in West Pakistan during the war. [History of liberation War of Bangladesh- Dr. Mohammad Hannan (বাংলাদেশের মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ইতিহাস- ড: মোহাম্মদ হান্নান) ]

In 1992, after restoration of democracy, an unofficial and self-proclaimed “Court of People” (Bengali: গণআদালত "Gonoadalot") “sentenced” Ghulam Azam and his ten accomplices to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Jamaat-e-Islami was already a part of the ruling four-party alliance in Bangladesh and so the “verdict” was ignored. Moreover, the then BNP government returned Bangladeshi nationality to Ghulam Azam, as it had been taken from him after the war. Subdued during the rule of Awami League from 1996-2001, Jamaat returned in full force after the next election in October 2001 in which a four party alliance led by BNP won a landslide victory. The new leader of Jamaat after Ghulam Azam’s retirement, Motiur Rahman Nizami, a Rajakar and among the ten people tried by the Gonoadalot, became an influential minister in the Government.

The word Rajakar today carries the meaning 'traitor' in common Bangladeshi parlance (similar to the usage of the word Quisling after the Second World War).

References

* Killers and Collaborators of 1971: An Account of Their Whereabouts, compiled and published by the Center for the Development of the Spirit of the Liberation War.