Al-Badr (East Pakistan)

The Al-Badr (Bengali: আল বদর) was a paramilitary force composed mainly of Bihari Muslims[1] which operated in East Pakistan against the Bengali nationalist movement during the Bangladesh Liberation War, under the patronage of the Pakistani government.[2][3]

For other uses, see Al-Badr.

Etymology

The name Al-Badr means the full moon and refers to the Battle of Badr.[4]

History

Organization

Al-Badr was constituted in September 1971 under the auspices of General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, then chief of the Pakistan Army eastern command. Members of Al-Badr were recruited from public schools and madrasas (religious schools). The unit was used for raids and special operations;[3] the Pakistan army command initially planned to use the locally recruited militias (Al-Badr, Razakar, Al-Shams) for policing cities of East Pakistan, and regular army units to defend the border with India.[5] Most members of Al-Badr appear to have been Biharis.[6].

Despite their similarities in opposing the independence of Bangladesh, the Razakar and Al-Badr had differences; Razakars opposed the Mukti Bahini in general, while Al-Badr's tactics were terrorism and political killings.[2] All three groups operated under Pakistani command.[7]

Dissolution

After the surrender of the Pakistan Army on 16 December 1971, Al-Badr was dissolved together with the Razakar and Al-Shams. Many members were arrested. During the time of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, all of the collaborators, including those of Al-Badr were pardoned and in 1975 any attempt to try them was repealed.[8]

War crimes

Al-Badr perpetrated atrocities against civilians during the war of 1971, in particular, the massacre of intellectuals in Dhaka that occurred on 14 December 1971.[9] They then dumped the bodies in the Rayer Bazaar area of Dhaka.[2] According to journalist Azadur Rahman Chandan, Al-Badr was experimentally launched in Jamalpur, Mymensingh on April 1971 as a voluntary force with Islami Chhatra Shangha activists as its first recruits to wage war against the nationalist fighters. They were enlisted and trained under the guidance of Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, the assistant secretary general of Jamaat.[10]

Leaders of Al-Badr

See also

References
  1. D'Costa, Bina (2011). Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia. Routledge. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-415-56566-0.
  2. Mamoon, Muntassir. "Al-Badr". Banglapedia. Bangladesh Asiatic Soicety. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  3. Sisson, Richard; Rose, Leo E. (1991). War and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh. University of California Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-520-07665-5.
  4. Haqqani, Husain (2005). Pakistan: between mosque and military. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. p. 79. ISBN 0-87003-285-2.
  5. Siddiqi, A. R. (2004). East Pakistan the Endgame: An Onlooker's Journal 1969-1971. Karachi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-579993-4.
  6. Siddiqui 1990, p. 153.
  7. Hasina, Sheikh (1999). "Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina's parliamentary speech given on 16 April 1992 on the subject of Golam Azam and the public tribunal". Documents on crimes against humanity committed by Pakistan Army and their agents in Bangladesh during 1971. Dhaka: Liberation War Museum. ISBN 984311048X. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011.
  8. Islam, Md Saidul (March 2011). "'Minority Islam' in Muslim Majority Bangladesh". Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs. 31 (1): 130. doi:10.1080/13602004.2011.556893. ISSN 1360-2004. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  9. P. Hazelhurst in The Times, 3 Jan 1972, p. 4.
  10. Chandan, Azadur Rahman (February 2011) [2009]. একাত্তরের ঘাতক ও দালালরা [The Killers and Collaborators of 71] (in Bengali) (Revised 2nd ed.). Dhaka: Jatiya Sahitya Prakash. pp. 48–54.
  11. Karlekar, Hiranmay (2005). Bangladesh: The Next Afghanistan?. New Delhi: Sage. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-7619-3401-1.
  12. Faruq, Mohiuddin (6 January 2016). "Supreme Court seals fate of Nizami, confirms Jamaat chief's death sentence for horrific war crimes". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  13. "Supreme Court to fix war criminal Mir Qausem's appeal hearing on Wednesday". bdnews24.com. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  14. "Don't interfere, Bangladesh tells Pakistan after remark on Mir Quasem Ali hanging". The Economic Times. 4 September 2016.
  15. Kabir, Monor (2006). Politics and development of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh. New Delhi: South Asian Publishers. p. 67. ISBN 978-8170033059.
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