Razakars (Pakistan)
The Razakar (Bengali: রাজাকার) was the paramilitary force organized by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
The Urdu word razakar (رضا کار) literally means "volunteer". The Razakar force was composed of mostly pro-Pakistani Bengalis and Urdu-speaking migrants living in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)[1]. Razakars were allegedly associated with many of the atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army during the 9-month war (see 1971 Bangladesh atrocities).
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[edit] Creation
The Razakar force was created under the Razakar Ordinance promulgated in May 1971 by the Governor of East Pakistan, Lieutenant General Tikka Khan[2] The Ordinance stipulates the creation of a voluntary force to be trained and equipped by the Provincial Government.
[edit] Organisation
Together with the Al-Badr and Al-Shams paramilitary forces, the Razakar were under Pakistani Army command .[3] In September 1971, the Razakar force was placed under the command of Major General Mohammed Jamshed.[4] Organisational command of the Razakar was given to Abdur Rahim who was trained at the Office of Public Safety, then part of USAID[5] (Abdur Rahim was to become Secretary to the President in Bangladesh in 1973, during the post-independence rule of Mujibur Rahman's Awami League). The Razakar force was organised 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 nationalist Bengali suspects. Usually such suspects were often tortured to death in custody[citation needed]. The Razakars were trained in the conventional army fashion by the Pakistan Army.
Towards the end of 1971, increasing numbers of Razakars were deserting.[6]
[edit] Dissolution
Following the surrender of the West Pakistan army on 16 December 1971 and the proclamation of independence of Bangladesh, the Razakar units were dissolved. Most of the leading Razakars[who?], fled to Pakistan (previously West Pakistan)[citation needed]. Many of the lower ranking Razakars who remained in Bangladesh were killed in the course of reprisals immediately after the end of fighting[citation needed] 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.[7]
The word রাজাকার razakar today carries the meaning "traitor" in common Bangladeshi Bengali parlance, similar to the usage of the word Quisling after the Second World War.
[edit] References
- ^ A. R. Siddiqui, East Pakistan - the Endgame: An Onlooker's Journal 1969-1971, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 171.
- ^ The Dacca Gazette Extraordinary, Aug 2, 1971. Available at http://www.icsforum.org/library/files/420_GovernmentofEastPakistan1971.pdf
- ^ Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina’s parliamentary speech given on 16 April 1992 on the subject of Golam Azam and the public tribunal, in DOCUMENTS ON CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY COMMITTED BY PAKISTAN ARMY AND THEIR AGENTS IN BANGLADESH DURING 1971 137 (1999–2002)
- ^ Siddiqui 2004, p. 171.
- ^ L. Lifschultz, Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution, Zed Press, 1979, p. 123.
- ^ US Department of State, Sitrep, 5th October 1971, cited in R. Sisson and L. E. Rose. Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh, University of California Press, 1990, p 308.
- ^ History of liberation War of Bangladesh- Dr. Mohammad Hannan (বাংলাদেশের মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ইতিহাস- ড: মোহাম্মদ হান্নান)
- 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.
