Razakars (Pakistan)

Razakar is a Persian term meaning volunteer. The Razakars in East Pakistan were formed by the Pakistan Army on the model of the Razakars of Hyderabad, which had been formed after the partition of India by the Nizam of Hyderabad to resist annexation by India. During the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement to abolish or change the quota system that gave public benefits to descendants of freedom fighters, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina dismissively asked whether grandchildren of Razakars should get quota benefits. This spurred the protesters to spontaneously self-identify as Razakars to reappropriate the use of the term. This led to several Razakar slogans being used in the July Revolution that toppled the regime of Sheikh Hasina. ==History and organization==

In June 1971, the Ansar was disbanded and reconstituted as the Razakars. Initially, they were controlled by the Shanti Committee, which was formed by several pro-Pakistani leaders, including Nurul Amin and Khwaja Khairuddin. The first recruits were 96 Jamaat party members, who started training in an Ansar camp at Khan Jahan Ali Road, Khulna. The ordinance stipulated the creation of a voluntary force to be trained and equipped by the provincial government. Organizational command of the Razakar Bahini was given to Abdur Rahim. The Razakar force was organised into brigades of around 3,000–4,000 volunteers, mainly armed with light infantry weapons provided by the Pakistan 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. Razakars were trained by the Pakistan Army. Chakma youth from the Chittagong Hill Tracts actively joined the Razakar militia. The Razakars were paid by the Pakistan Army and provincial administration. Leading supporters of a united Pakistan urged General Yahya Khan to increase the number of Razakars and give them more arms to extend their activities in East Pakistan. They were advised "to uproot secessionists, antisocialists and Naxalites." ==Genocide==

During the Bangladesh genocide of the Bangladesh War of Independence, the Pakistani military committed genocide of between 300,000 and 3 million civilians, Active collaborators of the Pakistan military in the perpetration of genocide and ethnic cleansing in East Pakistan include Al Badr, Al Shams, the East Pakistan Central Peace Committee, Razakars, the Muslim League, Mujahid Bahini, and Jamaat-e-Islami. On 5 August 1971, six Hindus were killed by Razakars in Panti village under Kumarkhali sub-division. They killed 3 Hindus in Sylhet and 19 Hindus in Jessore, Gopalganj and Chittagong hill tracts. ==Dissolution==

Following the surrender of the Pakistani troops on 16 December 1971 and the proclamation of independence of Bangladesh, the Razakar units were dissolved. Jamaat-e-Islami was banned, as it opposed the independence of Bangladesh, and many Razakar commanders fled to Pakistan (previously West Pakistan). == Trials ==

In 2010, the Bangladesh Government set up an International Crimes Tribunal based on the International Crimes Tribunal Act 1973 to prosecute the people who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity 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. Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the Nayeb-e-Ameer of Jamaat, 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. 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. Convicted members • AKM Yusuf, the organiser of Razakar forces • Forkan Mallik, a Razakar commander, convicted of rapes and forceful conversions in Mirzaganj, Patuakhali 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. ==See also==