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{{distinguish|Razakars (Hyderabad)}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Short description|Paramilitary organization}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Razakar
| image =
| caption =
| dates = 1971
| country = {{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Pakistan]] (1971)
| allegiance = [[Pakistan]]
| branch =
| type = [[Internal Security]], [[Law Enforcement]]
| size = 30,000–40,000
| command_structure =
| garrison = [[Khulna]], Bangladesh
| garrison_label =
| nickname = Razakar Bahini
| patron =
| motto =
| colors =
| colors_labels =
| march =
| mascot =
| equipment =
| equipment_label =
| battles = [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]
| anniversaries =
| decorations = 
| notable_commanders = [[AKM Yusuf]]
}}
'''Razakar''' {{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|رضا کار}}}}, literally "volunteer"; {{lang-bn|রাজাকার}}) was an East Pakistani paramilitary force organised by General [[Tikka Khan]] in then [[East Pakistan]], now called Bangladesh, during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] in 1971. Since the 1971 war, it has become a pejorative term (implying traitor) in Bangladesh due to the atrocities allegedly committed by the Razakars during the War. The Razakar force was composed of mostly anti-Bangladesh and pro-Pakistan [[Bengalis]] and [[Stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh|Urdu-speaking migrants]] who lived in [[Bangladesh]] at the time.

==Creation==
The East Pakistan Razakars Ordinance was promulgated on 2 August 1971 by the Governor of East Pakistan, Lieutenant General [[Tikka Khan]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The East Pakistan Razakars Ordinance, 1971, An Ordinance |url=http://www.icsforum.org/library/files/420_GovernmentofEastPakistan1971.pdf |magazine=The Dacca Gazette Extraordinary |url-status=dead |date=2 August 1971 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004235644/http://www.icsforum.org/library/files/420_GovernmentofEastPakistan1971.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013 |access-date=10 February 2013 |via=International Crimes Strategy Forum}}</ref> The Ordinance stipulated the creation of a voluntary force to be trained and equipped by the Provincial Government. This was to add to the government's forces to suppress the rebellion of people who wanted independence for the region. It is also alleged that Razakars were recruited by the [[Shanti Committee]], which was formed by several pro-Pakistani leaders including [[Nurul Amin]], [[Ghulam Azam]] and [[Khwaja Khairuddin]].<ref name="Wall Street Journal">''The Wall Street Journal'', 27 July 1971; quoted in the book ''Muldhara 71'' by Moidul Hasan</ref> The first recruits included 96 [[Jamaat-e-Islami|Jamaat]] party members, who started training in an Ansar camp at Khan Jahan Ali Road, Khulna.<ref>{{cite news |title=Razakar was launched with 96 Jamaat men |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-255595 |work=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date=31 October 2012 |access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref>

During the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide]] by the Pakistani Army and its supporting [[militia]]s (Razakar) killed an estimated 300,000<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201 |title=Bangladesh war: The article that changed history |work=BBC News |date=25 March 2022}}</ref> to 3,000,000 people,<ref name="MathewWhite">White, Matthew, ''[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm#Bangladesh Death Tolls for the Major Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century]''</ref> and raped 200,000–400,000 [[Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]] women in a systematic campaign of [[genocidal rape]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sharlach |first=Lisa |year=2000 |title=Rape as Genocide: Bangladesh, the Former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda |journal=New Political Science |volume=22 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/713687893 |pages=92–93|s2cid=144966485 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sajjad |first=Tazreena |year=2012 |orig-year=First published 2009 |chapter=The Post-Genocidal Period and its Impact on Women |editor-last=Totten |editor-first=Samuel |editor-link=Samuel Totten |title=Plight and Fate of Women During and Following Genocide |publisher=Transaction Publishers |pages=225 |isbn=978-1-4128-4759-9}}</ref>

==Organisation==
The Razakars had two branches they were [[Al-Badr (East Pakistan)|Al-Badr]] and [[Al-Shams (East Pakistan)|Al-Shams]] paramilitary forces.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Students from Madrasahs were inducted into Al-Badr for specialised operations while Al-Shams was tasked with protection of important strategic locations.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roy |first1=Kaushik |last2=Gates |first2=Scott |year=2014 |title=Unconventional Warfare in South Asia: Shadow Warriors and Counterinsurgency |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdrcAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA117 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. |page=117 |isbn=978-1-4724-0579-1}}</ref> The Razakar were under Pakistani Army command and also trained by them (see external link section).<ref>[[Sheikh Hasina]], speech in Parliament on Golam Azam and the public tribunal, 16 April 1992, transcript in ''DOCUMENTS ON CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY COMMITTED BY PAKISTAN ARMY AND THEIR AGENTS IN BANGLADESH DURING 1971'' 137, (1999–2002)</ref> In September 1971, the Razakar force was placed under the command of Major General Mohammed Jamshed.<ref name="Siddiqui">{{cite book|last=Siddiqui|first=A. R.|title=East Pakistan – the Endgame: An Onlooker's Journal 1969–1971|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-19-579993-4|page=171}}</ref> Organisational command of the Razakar was given to Abdur Rahim.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lifschultz |first=Lawrence |date=1979 |title=Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution |publisher=Zed Press |page=123 |isbn=0-905762-07-X |quote=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.}}</ref>

The Razakar force was organised into [[brigade]]s of around 3000–4000 volunteers, mainly armed with [[light Infantry]] weapons provided by the [[Pakistan 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. Suspects were tortured during custody and killed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Charges pressed against 5 Kishoreganj 'Razakars' |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/city/charges-pressed-against-five-kishoreganj-razakars-81593 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Razakars killed doc on Yusuf's order |url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/razakars-killed-doc-on-yusufs-order/ |work=The Daily Star |access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Khan |first1=Tamanna |title=V for a mother |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/v-mother-98452 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref> The Razakars were trained by the Pakistan Army.<ref>{{cite book |author=Khuram Iqbal |title=The Making of Pakistani Human Bombs |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2015 |page=38}}</ref> While formed as a paramilitary group, the Razakars also served as local guides for the Pakistan Army. Both organisations were later accused of having violated [[Geneva Conventions|Geneva Conventions of War]] by raping, murdering and looting the locals.<ref name="Forkan Razakar’s verdict any day">{{cite news |last1=Shaon |first1=Ashif Islam |title=Forkan Razakar's verdict any day |url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/jun/15/forkan-razakars-verdict-any-day |work=Dhaka Tribune |access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref> Razakars also allegedly killed Indian civilians during the war. On 5 August 1971, six Indians were killed by the Razakars in Panti village under Kumarkhali sub-division.<ref name=po-6indians>{{cite news |title=Six indians killed by Razakars |newspaper=The Pakistan Observer |date=6 August 1971}}</ref> They killed 3 Indians in Sylhet and 19 Indians in Jessore, Gopalganj and Chittagong hill tracts.<ref name=po-3indians>{{cite news |title=Razakars kill indian agents |newspaper=The Pakistan Observer |date=22 October 1971}}</ref><ref name=po-19indians>{{cite news |title=Razakars kill 19 indian agents |newspaper=The Pakistan Observer |date=2 November 1971}}</ref>

Quoting a declassified US document Azadur Rahman Chandan wrote, "the 'Rasikars' are a destabilizing element – living off the land, able to make life and death decisions by denouncing collaborators and openly pillaging and terrorizing villagers without apparent restraint from the Army".{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The Razakars were paid by the Pakistan Army and Provincial Government.<ref name=po-pay>{{cite news |title=Razakar's pay revised upwards |newspaper=The Pakistan Observer |date=20 November 1971}}</ref> Leading supporters of a united Pakistan urged General [[Yahya Khan]] to increase the number of Razakars and given them more arms to extend their activities in East Pakistan.<ref name=po-increase>{{cite news |title=Increase number of Razakars |newspaper=The Pakistan Observer |date=7 November 1971}}</ref>

Towards the end of 1971, increasing numbers of Razakars were deserting, as the end of the war approached and Bangladesh moved towards independence.<ref>US Department of State, "Sitrep," 5 October 1971, cited in R. Sisson and L. E. Rose. ''Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh,'' University of California Press, 1990, p 308.</ref>

==Dissolution==
Following the surrender of the East Pakistani troops on 16 December 1971 and the proclamation of independence of [[Bangladesh]], the Razakar units were dissolved. The Jamaat party was banned, as it had opposed independence. Many leading Razakars fled to [[Pakistan]] (previously [[West Pakistan]]).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/the-list-of-10789-razakars-published-1840843 |title=Govt publishes list of Razakars |date=16 December 2019 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

Waves of violence followed the official end of the war, and some lower-ranking Razakars were killed in reprisals by [[Mukti Bahini]] militia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.khichuri.org/tui-razakar-picturing-revenge-and-reprisal-in-bangladesh/ |title='Tui Razakar!' – Picturing Revenge and Reprisal in Bangladesh |website=The Khichuri |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314115324/http://www.khichuri.org/tui-razakar-picturing-revenge-and-reprisal-in-bangladesh/ |archive-date=14 March 2022}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=May 2022}} 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.<ref>Dr. Mohammad Hannan, ''History of Liberation War of Bangladesh'' (বাংলাদেশের মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ইতিহাস- ড: মোহাম্মদ হান্নান)</ref>

In [[Bangladesh]] today, razakar is used as a pejorative term meaning "traitor" or [[Judas Iscariot|Judas]].<ref name=Mookherjee>{{cite book |last=Mookherjee |first=Nayanika |year=2009 |editor1=Sharika Thiranagama |editor2=Tobias Kelly |title=Traitors: Suspicion, Intimacy, and the Ethics of State-Building |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |page=49 |isbn=978-0-8122-4213-3}}</ref>

== Trials ==
In 2010 the Bangladesh government, led by the [[Awami League]], set up an [[International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)|International Crimes Tribunal]] based on the International Crimes Tribunal Act 1973 to prosecute the people who committed [[war crimes]] and crimes against humanities during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|liberation war]] in 1971. People of Pakistan who were not aware of their crimes due to censorship by Yahya regime , have now openly welcome their trials and even support their public execution. <ref name=crime_act1973>{{cite web |title=The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 |url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=435 |work=bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh to Hold Trials for 1971 War Crimes |url=http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Bangladesh-to-Hold-Trials-for-1971-War-Crimes-89258207.html |work=Voice of America |date=26 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh sets up 1971 war crimes tribunal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8587511.stm |work=BBC News |date=25 March 2022}}</ref>

Several trials were concluded in early 2013: [[Abul Kalam Azad (Bachchu)|Abul Kalam Azad]] was convicted of eight charges and sentenced to death in January 2013.<ref name=bdnews24_bachcuVerdict>{{cite news |title=Azad gets death for war crimes |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/01/21/azad-gets-death-for-war-crimes |access-date=2 March 2013 |newspaper=bdnews24 |date=21 January 2022}}</ref> [[Abdul Quader Mollah]] was convicted of five of six charges and sentenced to death in December 2013.<ref name=dailyStar-kaderVerdict>{{cite news |title=Summary of verdict in Quader Mollah case |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=268072 |access-date=2 March 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=6 February 2022}}</ref><ref name=aj_kaderVerdict>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh politician jailed for war crimes |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/02/20132561816876315.html |work=Al Jazeera |date=5 February 2013 |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref> [[Delwar Hossain Sayeedi]], the Nayeb-e-Ameer of [[Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami|Jamaat]], was convicted of eight charges of war crimes and sentenced to death for two of them in February 2013.<ref name=dailyStar_verdictSayeedi>{{cite news |title=Gallows for Sayedee |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=270923 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=1 March 2013 |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name=bbc_sayeediVerdict>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh war crimes trial: Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to die |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21611769 |work=BBC News |date=28 February 2013 |access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref>

=== List of war crimes ===
{{Main|1971 Bangladesh genocide|1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War}}
The Razakar forces violated [[Geneva Conventions|Geneva Conventions of War]] by killing, raping, murdering and looting the [[Civilian]]s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/uncategorized/2015/06/14/forkan-razakars-verdict-any-day |title=Forkan Razakar's verdict any day |work=Dhaka Tribune |date=14 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://womenintheworld.com/2016/03/25/why-is-the-mass-sexualized-violence-of-bangladeshs-liberation-war-being-ignored/ |title=Why is the mass sexualized violence of Bangladesh's Liberation War being ignored? |date=25 March 2016 |publisher=Women In The World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kean.edu/~bgsg/Conference09/Papers_and_Presentations/MA_Hasan_Paper_Discovery%20of%20numerous%20Mass%20Graves,%20Various%20types.pdf |title=Discovery of numerous Mass Graves, Various types of torture on Women" and "People's Attitude |publisher=kean.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3945&context=til |title=Crimes Against Humanity in Bangladesh |publisher=scholar.smu.edu}}</ref>

==Notable confirmed Razakar members==
* [[AKM Yusuf]], the lead organiser.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader dies in prison |url=http://www.worldbulletin.net/servisler/haberYazdir/128584/haber |agency=World Bulletin |date=10 February 2014 |access-date=22 August 2022}}</ref>
* [[Forkan Mallik]], a Razakar commander, convicted of rapes and [[forced conversion|forceful conversions]] in [[Mirzaganj Upazila|Mirzaganj]], [[Patuakhali]].<ref name="Forkan Razakar’s verdict any day"/>

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 Liberation War.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/the-list-of-10789-razakars-published-1840843 |title=Govt publishes list of Razakars |date=16 December 2019 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[International Crimes Tribunal Timeline]]
* [[Timeline of the Bangladesh War]]
* [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals]]
* [[1971 Dhaka University massacre]]
* [[Shankharipara massacre]]
* [[1970 Bhola cyclone]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chandan, Azadur Rahman (February 2011) [2009]. একাত্তরের ঘাতক ও দালালরা [The Killers and Collaborators of 71] (Revised 2nd ed.). Dhaka: Jatiya Sahitya Prakash. pp. 48–54.
* volunteers 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.

==External links==
* [http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/po/19710718_po_picture_gen_niazi_watches_razakars_training.pdf Razakars in training watched by Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi]
* [http://www.docstrangelove.com/uploads/1971/po/19710914_po_picture_razakars_complete_their_training.pdf Razakars complete their training]

{{1971 Bangladesh genocide}}

[[Category:Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:Political slurs for people]]
[[Category:Former paramilitary forces of Pakistan]]

Razakar (Pakistan) - Revision history

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