Razakar
{{Short description|Loanword from Arabic used in the subcontinent}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
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|Razakar (Pakistan)|Police Qaumi Razakars|Razakars (Hyderabad)}}
Razakars were an East Pakistani paramilitary force that aided the Pakistan Army against the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War.{{cite web |url=http://www.icsforum.org/library/files/420_GovernmentofEastPakistan1971.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2013-02-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004235644/http://www.icsforum.org/library/files/420_GovernmentofEastPakistan1971.pdf |archivedate=2013-10-04 }}
Police Qaumi Razakars are a volunteer force in Pakistan which aids the Police in their duties.{{cite web|title=THE PUNJAB QAUMI RAZAKARS ORDINANCE, 1965|url=http://punjablaws.gov.pk/laws/192.html|website=Punjab Laws|accessdate=6 January 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Faisal|first1=Muhammad|title=Failure to check corruption: Police mull razakar force abolition|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/790176/failure-to-check-corruption-police-mull-razakar-force-abolition|accessdate=6 January 2015|publisher=The Dawn|date=4 March 2014}}
In Hyderabad, Razakars were volunteers sponsored by the Nizam's state of Hyderabad for opposition to its merger with India.Moraes, Frank, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mumbai: Jaico. 2007, p.394
In Bangladesh
In Bengali language, razakar is a term to indicate those who opposed Bangladeshi independence and collaborated with the Pakistani Army: a pejorative term akin to the western term "traitor" or Judas.{{cite book|last=Mookherjee|first=Nayanika|title=Traitors: Suspicion, Intimacy, and the Ethics of State-Building|year=2009|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-4213-3|editor=Sharika Thiranagama, Tobias Kelly|page=49}} The phrase comes from the East Pakistani paramilitary force (see above) who opposed the independence of Bangladesh. Although now it's mostly just a slur used by Awami League in order to depict those who support Pakistan or go against India or against the liberation war that happened in 1971 or be against the freedom fighter quota. This word 'Razakar' has been used by Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh hasina which enraged the quota protestors who were wanting the Quota be reduced that happened in July 2024 which later turned to deadly anti-government protests.{{Cite web |date=2024-08-06 |title=Protests in Bangladesh: the reasons for the rage |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240806-why-has-bangladesh-been-consumed-by-a-month-of-protests |access-date=2024-11-02 |website=France 24 |language=en}} The sentence with the word 'Razakar' that was used by Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh on 14th July 2024 which enraged the Quota protests{{Cite news |last=Ruma |first=Paul |date=July 15, 2024 |title=Bangladesh students clash in job quota protests, at least 100 injured |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-students-clash-job-quota-protests-least-100-injured-2024-07-15/ |work=Reuters}} goes by following: "If the grandchildren of freedom fighters don't get quota benefits, will those then go to the grandchildren of Razakars? That's my question, the countrymen's question,".{{Cite web |date=2024-07-14 |title=Thousands of quota protesters take to streets as campuses across the country come alive with slogans |url=https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/quota-reform-protesters-gathering-du-ju-campuses-899561 |access-date=2024-11-02 |website=The Business Standard |language=en}} After hearing this sentence, they started to march on the streets giving the Razakar slogan by saying "Who are you?! Who am i?! Razakar! Razakar! Who said?! Who said?! Autocrat! Autocrat!, You're Razakar! You're Razakar!".