The Al-Badr (; ; ) was an East Pakistani militia composed mainly of pro-Pakistan people, which operated in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

against the Bengali nationalist movement during the Bangladesh War of Independence, under the patronage of the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

Etymology

The name 'Al-Badr' means the full moon and refers to the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...

History

Organization

Al-Badr and Al-Shams were first formed at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

by the

Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba () IJT is the largest student organization in Pakistan. It was founded by 25 students on 23 December 1947 at Lahore, Pakistan. Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba is working in Pakistan to eliminate the non-Islamic elements and secul ...

's head organizer Matiur Rahman Nizami. They operated in September 1971, under the auspices of General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, then chief of the Pakistan Army eastern command. The Pakistan army command initially planned to use locally recruited militias (Al-Badr, Razakar, Al-Shams) for policing cities of

, and regular army units to defend the border with India. According to Brigadier Abdul Rahman Siddiqi, members of Al-Badr were mainly

Biharis Bihari () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ( Bihari-speaking) ethnolinguistic groups: Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magahis. They are also further divid ...

. Despite their similarities in opposing the

independence of Bangladesh The independence of Bangladesh was Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence, declared from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, which is now celebrated as Independence Day (Bangladesh), Independence Day. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March ...

, the Razakar and Al-Badr had differences; Razakars opposed the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

in general, while Al-Badr's tactics were

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and political killings. All three groups operated under Pakistani command.

Dissolution

After the surrender of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

on 16 December 1971, Al-Badr was dissolved together with the Razakar and Al-Shams. Many members were arrested. During the 1972-1975 regime of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

, all of the collaborators, including those of Al-Badr were pardoned conditionally.

War crimes

Al-Badr were involved in atrocities against civilians during the war of 1971 in particular, the massacre of intellectuals, that occurred in Rayer Bazaar,

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

on 15 December 1971. According to journalist Azadur Rahman Chandan, Al-Badr was experimentally launched in Jamalpur,

Mymensingh Mymensingh () is a metropolis, metropolitan city and capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center ...

in April 1971 as a voluntary force with Islami Chhatra Sangha activists as its first recruits to wage war against the nationalist fighters.

Leaders of Al-Badr

* Motiur Rahman Nizami was convicted of war crimes and executed on 11 May 2016 * Mir Quasem Ali was convicted of war crimes and executed on 3 September 2016 * Ashrafuz Zaman Khan * Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin * Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was convicted of war crimes and executed on 22 November 2015.

References

{{Bangladesh liberation 1971 Bangladesh genocide perpetrators Former paramilitary forces of Pakistan Right-wing militant groups Wartime collaboration