Razakars (Pakistan)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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).
Following the liberation of East Pakistan as the independent country Bangladesh, most of the leading Razakars, including Golam Azam, fled to Pakistan. Although Golam Azam maintains that he went to Pakistan to participate in the Annual General Meeting of his organization Jamaat-e-Islami, he remained overseas until General Ziaur Rahman allowed him to return in 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.[citation needed]
In 1992, after restoration of democracy, an unofficial “Court of People” (Bengali: গণআদালত Gonoadalot) “sentenced” Golam 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 Golam 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 Golam 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).
