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Who were the Razakars and why are they central to Bangladesh protests?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/22/who-were-the-razakars-and-why-are-they-central-to-bangladesh-protestsWho were the Razakars and why are they central to Bangladesh protests?
They were a force of collaborators used by Pakistan to try to crush the movement for an independent Bangladesh. The recent protests show that their blood-stained legacy remains alive — 53 years after the freedom war.
By Abid Hussain
Published On 22 Jul 2024
22 Jul 2024
But the protesters have refused to end their movement until the government notifies these changes. They are also demanding justice for the more than 100 people who have been killed in clashes between protesters on the one hand, and a combination of security forces and purported members of the governing Awami League’s student body on the other hand. A countrywide curfew remains in place, with the military manning the streets.
Yet, as the protests have grown, they have morphed from a reflection of a job crisis to a broader battle over identity in a country that is 53 years old but where a vast majority of the population was not born when Bangladesh secured freedom.
[...]
The word means “volunteers” and is considered derogatory in Bangladesh as it refers to people who supported the Pakistani military’s operation to quell the Bangladesh liberation war and were accused of heinous crimes.
So what did Hasina mean? Who were the Razakars, what role did they play in Bangladesh’s freedom war, and what happened to them after the country gained independence? And why is the term so controversial?
[...]
They were a force of collaborators used by Pakistan to try to crush the movement for an independent Bangladesh. The recent protests show that their blood-stained legacy remains alive — 53 years after the freedom war.
By Abid Hussain
Published On 22 Jul 2024
22 Jul 2024
But the protesters have refused to end their movement until the government notifies these changes. They are also demanding justice for the more than 100 people who have been killed in clashes between protesters on the one hand, and a combination of security forces and purported members of the governing Awami League’s student body on the other hand. A countrywide curfew remains in place, with the military manning the streets.
Yet, as the protests have grown, they have morphed from a reflection of a job crisis to a broader battle over identity in a country that is 53 years old but where a vast majority of the population was not born when Bangladesh secured freedom.
[...]
The word means “volunteers” and is considered derogatory in Bangladesh as it refers to people who supported the Pakistani military’s operation to quell the Bangladesh liberation war and were accused of heinous crimes.
So what did Hasina mean? Who were the Razakars, what role did they play in Bangladesh’s freedom war, and what happened to them after the country gained independence? And why is the term so controversial?
[...]