Razakar (رضا کار) is etymologically an Arabic word which literally means volunteer. The word is also common in Urdu language as a loanword. On the other hand, in Bangladesh, razakar is a pejorative word meaning a traitor or Judas.

In Pakistan and India

Main articles: Razakar (Pakistan), Police Qaumi Razakars, and Razakars (Hyderabad)

Razakars were an East Pakistani paramilitary force that aided the Pakistan Army against the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War.[1]

Police Qaumi Razakars are a volunteer force in Pakistan which aids the Police in their duties.[2][3]

In Hyderabad, Razakars were volunteers sponsored by the Nizam's state of Hyderabad for opposition to its merger with India.[4]

In Bangladesh

In Bengali language, razakar is an ethnic slur mainly towards Pakistanis and Biharis: a pejorative term akin to the western term "traitor" or Judas.[5] The phrase comes from the East Pakistani paramilitary force (see above) who opposed the independence of Bangladesh.

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-02-10.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "THE PUNJAB QAUMI RAZAKARS ORDINANCE, 1965". Punjab Laws. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  3. ^ Faisal, Muhammad (4 March 2014). "Failure to check corruption: Police mull razakar force abolition". The Dawn. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  4. ^ Moraes, Frank, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mumbai: Jaico. 2007, p.394
  5. ^ Mookherjee, Nayanika (2009). Sharika Thiranagama, Tobias Kelly (ed.). Traitors: Suspicion, Intimacy, and the Ethics of State-Building. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-8122-4213-3.
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