Al - Badr ( East Pakistan ) The Al - Badr ( , originally from the meaning " full moon " ) was a paramilitary wing of the West Pakistan Army , which operated in Bangladesh ( then East Pakistan ) against the Bengali nationalist movement during the Bangladesh Liberation War . Members of Al - Badr were recruited from public schools and madrasas ( religious schools ) . The unit was used for raids and special operations ; the West 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 . Most members of Al - Badr appear to have been Biharis . Background . The name of the paramilitary formation , Al - Badr , may refer to the Battle of Badr . Together with the Razakar and Al - Shams , Al - Badr was formed in order to counter the guerrilla activities of the Mukti Bahini which grew increasingly organised and militarily successful during in the second half of 1971 . All three groups operated under Pakistani command , Organisation . Citing excerpts from Hussain Haqqani ’ s ( Pakistani diplomat ) book , ' Pakistan : Between Mosque and Military ' , journalist and researcher Azadur Rahman Chandan said in his book , The Jamaat - e - Islami and especially its student wing , the Islami Jamiat - e - Talaba [ IJT ] , joined the military ’ s effort in May 1971 to launch two paramilitary counterinsurgency units . ' . . . ' The IJT provided a large number of recruits … . The two special brigades of Islamists cadres were named Al - Shams and Al - Badr … . A separate Razakars Directorate was established … Two separate wings called Al - Badr and Al - Shams were recognised . . . ' Well educated and properly motivated students from schools and madrasas were put in Al - Badr wing , where they were trained to undertake specialised operations … the remainder were grouped together under Al - Shams . ' Abolition . After the surrender of the West Pakistani army on December 16 , 1971 , Al - Badr was dissolved together with the Razakar and Al - Shams . Many of the members of this elite unit were arrested . However during the time of President Ziaur Rahman , all of the collaborators including Al Badr were pardoned . Allegations of war crimes . It is alleged that Al - Badr perpetrated atrocities against civilians during the war of 1971 , in particular , the massacre of intellectuals in Dhaka that occurred on December 15 , 1971 . According to journalist Azadur Rahman Chandan The Al - Badr was experimentally launched in Jamalpur , Mymensingh on April 1971 as a voluntary force with Islami Chhatra Sangha activists as its first recruits to wage war against the freedom fighters . They were enlisted and trained under the guidance of Mohammad Kamaruzzaman , the assistant secretary general of Jamaat . Al - Badr is accused of carrying out a planned massacre and particularly the killing of the leading intelligentsia just two days ahead of the finalvictory on December 16 , 1971 . Citing excerpts from an investigative report published in the New York Times on January 3 , 1972 , Azadur Rahman Chandan said , ' Dressed in black sweaters and khaki pants , members of the group , known as Al - Badar , rounded up their victims on the last three nights of the war . ' . . . ' Their goal , captured members have since said , was to wipe out all Bengali intellectuals who advocated independence from Pakistan and the creation of a secular , non - Moslem state . '