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&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Razakar_units_being_trained_from_Muslim_volunteers.jpg) Razakar units being trained | |
| Formation | 1938 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bahadur Yar Jung |
| Dissolved | 1948 |
| Type | Paramilitary volunteer force |
| Purpose | Support of the Nizam, Sir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, resisting the integration of Hyderabad State into India |
| Headquarters | Hyderabad |
Region served | Hyderabad State |
| Leader | Bahadur Yar Jung Qasim Razvi |
| Affiliations | Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen |
The Razakars were the paramilitary volunteer force in the Hyderabad State under the British Raj, affiliated to the Muslim nationalist party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM). Formed in 1938 by the MIM leader Bahadur Yar Jung,[1] the organisation expanded considerably during the leadership of Qasim Razvi around the time of Indian independence. The Razakars were deployed in the cause of maintaining Muslim rule in Hyderabad and resisting integration into India. Described as "enthusiastic" and "disciplined", they attacked Hindus and committed atrocities on them as well as on those launching an insurrection against the Hyderabad State and the state's feudal lords like doras and deskhmukhs.[2]
During the period November 1947–August 1948, when Hyderabad was under a Standstill Agreement with India, the Indian government made repeated demands to the Nizam of Hyderabad to disband the Razakars, which were all turned down. In the eventual armed invasion launched by India, dubbed a 'police action', the Razakars formed the main resistance to the Indian Army.[3] After they were defeated, the Nizam surrendered and agreed to disband the Razakars.[4] Qasim Razvi was initially jailed and then allowed to move to Pakistan where he was granted asylum.[5]
- ^ Benichou, From Autocracy to Integration (2000), p. 99.
- ^ Sherman, The integration of the princely state of Hyderabad (2007), pp. 6–7.
- ^ Kamat, Border incidents, internal disorder (2007), p. 220: "A little over 800 people died on both sides during the operation, with the Razakars suffering the majority of the casualties."
- ^ Kamat, Border incidents, internal disorder (2007), p. 220.
- ^ "Hate speech not new for Owaisi clan". The Times of India. 10 January 2013.