Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini ( Bengali - জাতীয় রক্ষী বাহিনী ; English - National Defence Force ) was an elite para - military force formed on the 8th instant of February , 1972 by the government led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by an order commonly known as ‘ Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini Act , 1972 ’ after the liberation war of Bangladesh . It was an auxiliary force of police which turned into a private army loyal only to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . Professor Ghulam Murshid compared it with Gestapo , while Anthony Mascarenhas said that there were a few differences between Hitler ’ s Nazis and Mujib ’ s Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . Inception . The force was incepted after a discussion between the top leaders of Mujib Bahini or BLF with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who made him realise the need of such force . It was told that the result of the independence can be handed over to the anti - revolutionaries if the force was not formed . Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman expressed his will to form the force to Colonel Sarwar on 20 January 1972 first . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was incepted as an auxiliary force of Military Forces with about eight thousand loyal personnel who were known as freedom fighter as well . The force consisted of the loyal members from Bangladesh Liberation Front ( BLF ) or Mujib Bahini . According to Mascarenhas “ … Its officers were mainly political cadres and it was freely used to crush opponets and critics of Mujib and the Awami League . In time it completely terrorized people . ” The force was formed after an order known as ‘ Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini Act , 1972 | President Order no . - 21 ’ which was issued on 7 March of the year but it was ordered that the act will be treated in effect from 1 February 1972 . Necessity . During the nine - month - long struggle for the independence of Bangladesh over a hundred thousand of common people joined the war after getting trained by Indian majors . Tajuddin Ahmed felt these people should come under national service as they had arms and training . Tajuddin Ahmed asked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to form a para - military force for them . Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman primarily rejected the proposal but soon realized the necessity of an elite force . Because many police officers were martyred in the liberation war . So whenever the armed miscreants attacked them in their office , they were outnumbered . And even the raw , machineries and goods of factories were being smuggled through the border to India which also became a headache for the newly formed government . Analyzing the entire situation and for the sake of people ’ s security Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman decided to form this force . Planning . Analyzing the history it is clear that the formation of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was not only a result of necessity , but also a well - planned step . On the very first article published in " TIME " magazine just after the repatriation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman named as “ BANGLADESH : Mujib ' s Road from Prison to Power ” they explained the situation of the new born country . According to the article , “ Many of the more radical young guerrillas who fought with the Mukti Bahini ( liberation forces ) may not be content with the moderate course charted by the middle - aged politicians of the Awami League . Moreover , the present Dacca government is a very remote power in country villages where the local cadres of the Mukti Bahini are highly visible . ” The article also quoted one of its commanders , Ali Ashraf Chowdhury . " We will never lay down our arms until our social ideals have been realized " , he said . The article says , “ So far the Mujib Bahini has done a commendable job of protecting the Biharis , the non - Bengali Moslems who earned Bengali wrath by siding with the Pakistani army . But the government is anxious to disarm the Mujib Bahini , and has plans to organize it into a constabulary that would carry out both police and militia duties . ” Masudul Haque ’ s book named as “ Bangladesher Swadhinota Juddho O CIA ” ( Liberation War of Bangladesh and CIA ) , the writer quoted Abdur Rajjak , a young leader and the chief of Bangladesh Swecchasebok League ( Bangladesh Volunteer ’ s League ) that Mujib told them not to surrender all the guns . It means there was a hidden agenda behind the formation of Mujib Bahini which was known to its members only and probably it was to convert the entire force into an elite personal cult . And obviously , it was planned . Indian link . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was actively deployed just after the Indian Army left Bangladesh on 17 March . The force was trained and brought up by Major General Sujan Singh Uban from Research and Analysis Wing ( RAW ) as per the request of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . Moidul Hassan , who is the writer of “ Muldhara ‘ 71 ” ( Mainstream ‘ 71 ) confirmed the information in the book Muktijuddher Purbapor . He said , On the other hand Brigadier General ( Retd . ) M . Shakhawat Hossain claimed that an Indian commander named Major Reddy was the all in all of the Savar camp . The post and the activity of that Indian is still a mystery to all who knew it . In Savar camp there was three additional battalions who were called Recruit Battalion . These three battalions were directly supervised by Major Bala Reddy . Many Junior Commissioned Officers of Indian Army were in the training camp of Savar . The basic training of the force was given in India , by Indians . And other additional courses , special courses were also provided by India in the Indian Military Academy of Dehradun . Decoration . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini had a complete table of organization which was circulated on 8 March 1972 by a gazette notification . The chief of the force was known as Director General . His five deputies were known as Deputy Director General . Brigadier ANM Nuruzzaman was appointed as the Director General while Major Anwar Ul Alam Shahid ( Deputy Director , Training ) , Lieutenant Colonel Abul Hasan Khan ( Deputy Director , Administration ) , Lieutenant Colonel Sarwar ( Deputy Director , Operations ) , Lieutenant Colonel Sabihuddin ( Deputy Director , Signals ) , Lieutenant Colonel Azizul Islam ( Deputy Director , Zonal Head Quarter of Chittagong ) and Lieutenant Colonel A M Khan ( Deputy Director , Medical ) were his six deputies . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was well uniformed in Olive Green . Members of the force were given L1A1 Self - Loading Rifle , Heavy machine gun , Submachine gun , Light machine gun , Mortar , Steel helmets , Leather boots etc . They were provided with jeeps and trucks imported from India . The training of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was held in the Savar camp under the supervision of Indian military officer Major Bala Reddy . Some additional land and properties were also given to this force by the government . The Zonal Head Quarters building in the Vatiari of Chittagong and lands in Giltala of Khulna , Bateshwar of Sylhet , Bogra and in Mirpur of Dhaka . War Within . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini , which was formed and deployed for the protection of general mass turned into a monster to the common people of the country for their activities . It can be called as a war against people . Deployment . During its first days as it was formed as an auxiliary of Police , it helped police to guard the office . When police failed to control the situation , they were deployed . At least 44 offices and residents of police were attacked and looted from June to December 1973 . So the government deployed Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini within September of the year . But within a very short time it became so unpopular due to its action . Specially , Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini draws the attention after the formation of Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal ( Jasad ) . JASAD challenged the government ’ s activities and started to gain huge popularity especially among the students and youths . And many other secret organizations was emerged and gained popularity as the government was failing to solve almost every issue . JASAD and other leftist secret groups started to create debacle all around the country . This was a headache for the government . So the government deployed Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini to eliminate all the leftist criminals . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini started massacre just after their deployment . A Villain . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini turned into a monster within a very short time . Though it was formed as an auxiliary to Police and to protect people , it started misusing its rifles . According to various statistics , over a thousand people were tortured to death by them . Anthony Mascarenhas presented a description of the activities of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini in his book “ Bangladesh : A Legacy of Blood ” . He compared the force with Nazis of Hitler . He wrote , “ The Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini , which roughly translated means National Security Force , was a Para - military force whose members had to take oaths of personal loyalty to Mujib . Despite its high - sounding name , it was a sort of private army of bully boys not far removed from Nazi Brown Shirts . ” This force had no code of conduct . They had liability to none but Mujib . So the politically motivated killing increased rapidly . Mascarenhas said , “ By the end of 1973 the total of politically motivated murders in Bangladesh had crossed the 2000 mark . The victims included some members of Parliament and many of the murders were resulted of intra - party conflicts within Awami League . ” Within three years , political killing by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini reached about 30 thousand . Many political leaders along with their families were killed or abducted by this cult . The youths and students were there common target as JASAD was popular to them and most of the activists of JASAD were youths . Even the capital Dhaka was not immune to the violence . An unofficial curfew was introduced after midnight . Almost every rickshaw , taxi and private car was checked and searched by Rokkhi Bahini personnel . The force which emerged to be a hero , turned into a villain . Nightmare of JASAD . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini had an allergy to JASAD as it was organizing the youths against Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . A notable occurrence occurred on 17th Match of 1975 . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini set up fire the head quarter of JASAD on 14 March 1975 . JASAD decided to form a rally towards Home Minister Mansoor Ali ’ s house and surround it as a counter to that incident on 17 March . The rally that started from Paltan was forwarding to the Home Minister ’ s house but the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini opened brush - fire and at least 50 JASAD activists were killed on the spot . It was an incident at capital . But at the country side and in remote areas the brutality of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini beggar description . During the regime of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman thousands of youths were killed due to the suspicion of having connection with JASAD by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . Among them a leader of Bangladesh Krishok League central committee and a teacher of Nawabganj High School Siddiqur Rahman Khan was killed on 10 October 1972 . On 17 September 1973 JASAD Student ’ s League leader Bablu , Robi , Ebadat Ali , Motaleb , Kalu and many other were killed in daylight by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . General Secretary of City College Students ’ Union Jahangir , student of Jahangir Nagar University Shah Borhan Uddin Rokon , student of BUET Nikhil Chandra Saha ; Narshingdi JASAD leader Alauddin ; JASAD leader from Gazipur Akram , Joinal , Shamsu , Badal , Anwar ; Manikganj JASAD leader Shahadat Hossain Badal , Delwar Hossain Haraj , Abdul Awal Naju , Najim ; activists from Jamalpur Giasuddin Master ; JASAD activist Abdur Rashid , Hasu Miah ; leader from Mymensingh Masuduzzaman , Abdul Jabbar ; Madaripur JASAD activist Jahngir , Saddam , Ali Hosen , Mofijur ; Faridpur ’ s Kamaluzzaman , Abdul Hakim ; Moniddin Ahmed , Salam Master , Rafique Uddin from Razshahi ; Ata , Ranju , Manik Das Gupta , Tota , Colonel Rana , Khalil , Rajjak of Bagura ; Natore ’ s JASAD leader Nasiruddin ; leader from Pabna Ashfaqur Rahman Kalu are the notable names from the list of the political people , murdered by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . Brutality . The history of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini is a history of brutality . The range of the brutality increased day by day . The Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was a source of fear to individuals . Especially from the last days of 1973 , atrocities of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini crossed the limit . They were protected by the top level of the government which made them desperate . Mascarenhas said , “ … the nights were made hideous by the wailing of women whose husbands and sons had been dragged away by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini on Home Minister Mansoor Ali ’ s orders . These unfortunate people ‘ just vanished ’ . ” In an operation which was operated in Mymensingh , about 1500 teenagers were killed . Most of them were connected to Puba - Bangla Shorbohara Party ( East - Bengal Have - nots ’ Party ) of Siraj Sikder . Others were suspected to have link with Marxists and Leninists . But many of them were not active enough in politics . Almost all the camps of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini were a mine of corpse . They created massacre in every places they had gone . In Kaliganj of Jessore a mass - grave was discovered after the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini left the place . At least 60 skeletons were found in the grave . Machine - guns were fixed in front of Tongi Thana by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini facing to the workers ’ colony during a protest which killed over hundred workers . Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was also significant for its activity during the last days of 1974 and in the first days of January , while Bangladesh faced a serious famine . When the famine started , millions of people came to the capital from villages in search of food . The government decided to drive the poor and have - nots out of the capital as it was embarrassed in front of international community with the famine . On 3 January Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini was deployed to ‘ Clean Dhaka ’ depriving the poor - beggars and destitutes from the city . In this operation about 0 . 2 million have - nots and slum dwellers were taken away from the capital and were forced either to return to their villages or to be moved to the three camps . The camps were hastily laid out several miles from the city . Condition of the camps was disastrous . Amongst the three camps , the camp of Demra was the most appalling one , in where Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini gathered about 50 thousand people . Those people were ill - treated and sometimes they felt that death is a better solution . According to Anthony Mascarenhas , an old man of the camp told visiting journalists , “ Either give us food or shoot us . " Attack on Media . Media , which is called the fifth the pillar of a nation nowadays suffered several , attacks by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini due to publishing news about their illegal activities . On the 7 September 1972 , Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini personnel torched the head - office of newspaper ‘ Desh Bangla ’ . On 11 August the police sealed the office of ‘ Desh Bangla ’ in Chittagong for publishing news against Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . They also arrested two journalists and eight workers of the press . Al Mahmud , a famous poet and the editor of popular newspaper ‘ Gonokontho ’ was arrested for publishing the news of the attack on JASAD activists while encircling the Home Minister ’ s residence in Dhaka . At least twelve JASAD activists were killed and about a hundred were wounded as Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini personnel opened fire on that political program . But the government claimed the number of death were only six . Al Mahmud did not listen to the government and tried to publish the accurate news . When the government came to know that , they sent three trucks full of Police and Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini personnel to seize the office and press of ‘ Gonokontho ’ at night and arrested the Editor Al Mahmud along with seven workers of the press . Many staff reporter of ‘ Gonokontho ’ were abducted for their job . The publication of the newspaper was clogged on 20 January 1974 . The declaration of ‘ Gonokontho ’ was cancelled by the government on 27 January 1975 . Government cancelled another popular weekly ‘ Holiday ’ on 13 May 1975 . Enayetullah Khan , the editor of ‘ Holiday ’ was detained for publishing news against the government and the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . Indemnity . An incident on the May of 1974 drew the attention of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh . A teenager of just 17 was found to have ‘ disappeared ’ after four days of torture . The court castigated the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini for ‘ operating outside the law ’ . This ruling of the court disturbed Mujib and he stripped it of its power to intervene in such cases . He amended the Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini Act in 1974 just after the court ’ s ruling . Article - 2 of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini Act ( Amended ) says , Article 3 of the act says , This indemnity refrained the Judiciary Division from taking any legal actions This indemnity amplified their desperate actions . Significant Incidents . Statement of Aruna Sen . Aruna Sen was the wife of leftist politician Shanti Sen from Rajvadrapur , which was in Madaripur Sub - division of Faridpur ( Presently Shariyatpur ) . She made a statement after she got rid of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . Rokkhi Bahini personnel took her from home and tortured her to get the address of her husband and son . The statement was published in 17 March edition of Weekly Holiday and in the June edition of Monthly Sangskriti in 1974 . She stated the horrifying moments of torture and described the butchery of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini in Vedorganj and Damudya camp . She said in her statement , After the veteran communist activist Aruna Sen was detained , many newspapers of Dhaka featured this incident . A writ was filed at Supreme Court . The court asked Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini to present her in front of the court and prove her detention legal . They presented her but failed to prove the detention legal and had to leave them . Aruna Sen died in 5 January 2005 . From the Memoirs of Ayesha Faiz . Ayesha Faiz is the widow of Shaheed Faizur Rahman and the mother of famous novelist Humayun Ahmed and Professor Muhammad Zafar Iqbal . A house in Babar Road of Mohammadpur was allotted to her by the government for his martyred husband . But just after three days she was kicked out of the house with her family by a Subedar Major of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini . She detailed the incident in her biography Jibon Je Rokom ( Life as it is ) . Crossfire of Siraj Shikder . Siraj Sikder , a valiant freedom fighter . He was educated in EPUET , now which is known as BUET . After the liberation war he started his mission to establish a socialist society . During the liberation war on 3 June he established a political party named as ‘ Purba Bangla Sharbahara Party ’ . On the first congress of the party he was elected as the President on 14 January 1972 . He started working as the President of the party . In 1973 he was elected as the President of an alliance of eleven peoples ’ organization named as ‘ Purba Banglar Jatyo Mukti Front ’ ( National Liberation Front of East Bengal ) . But analyzing political situation of the country which was named as “ One Party Democracy ” by Guardian and the increasing torture over his party members forced him to choose the way of revolution . On 28 December 1974 the government announced the first ever state of emergency in the history of Bangladesh to arrest all the terrorists and opposition leaders . From then Siraj Sikder was being treated as an outlaw by the law and enforcement forces . He went underground after the promulgation of emergency . He was arrested by the intelligence agents on 1 January 1975 from Hali Shahr of Chittagong and was brought to Dhaka by air . He was tortured all day long and a rumor was spread that he was killed by Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini on his way to the camp at Savar on 2 January . His hand was tied and it was impossible for him to even move . There were clear spots of bullets which indicated that he was shot from a short distance . So it cannot be called as a cross - fire though the government mentioned it as a cross - fire . But a Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini commander later denied that the murder of Siraj Sikder was not . committed by his force . The actual fact behind the incident is still unknown . Rift with Military Forces . The number of Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini personnel increased to 30 thousand by 1975 . This large force was armed to teeth . They were given automatic weapons , steel helmets , jeeps , trucks etc . They had complete uniform with leather boots and a complete table of organization . On the other hand Bangladesh Army , which was formed through a war against an army of occupation with some true patriots in 21 November 1971 , found themselves as an orphan . While the Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini was being enlarged , Bangladesh Army was just watching that . There was no T . O . E . ( Table of Organization and Establishment ) . Military personnel did not have sufficient arms . Most of them had no uniforms , boots , helmets etc . In winter they had to guard the border in slippers . Major General Manzoor , a freedom fighter who escaped from Pakistan , defying the Army to join the liberation war said Mascarenhas that sometimes military personnel were killed by National Defence Force ( JRB ) blaming them as collaborators . All these discrimination created rift between the two forces . Death of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Aftermath . Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed in 15 August 1975 by some armed miscreants from the Artillery and Armoured Regiment of Bangladesh Army . Mysterious Inactivity . A mystery lies in the activity of National Defence Force ( JRB ) during the murder of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . The force which was committed to save Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from all disturbances was inert while he was killed . Bangabandhu wanted possible help from them but they did not even move . There was a tank set in front of their Headquarters at Uttara . Also the Director General of the force Brigadier Nuruzzaman was on an official tour to Europe and North America and Lieutenant Colonel Abul Hasan Khan was in the charge of the force temporarily until his return . Colonel Abul Hasan Khan , a freedom fighter who was in charge of the National Defence Force ( JRB ) acknowledged their loyalty to the new formed government in a radio address after the coup . Shahriar Kabir , a famous researcher on this incident has disclosed a research which says there were no freedom fighters in the top posts of National Defence Force ( JRB ) but the Director General and his two deputies . After the coup , those officers and soldiers who were deployed all around the country from National Defence Force ( JRB ) escaped their camps and houses in fear of mob - violence , as the people were very angry on them . Absorption in Military Forces . National Security Force was absorbed in Bangladesh Army after the death of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . The force was absorbed in Bangladesh Army after a law named as Jatiyo Rokkhi Bahini Absorption Act , 1975 was ordered . It was issued on 9 October 1975 and was in effect from September 3 , 1975 . The Director General of the force Brigadier Nuruzzaman was appointed as an ambassador after the force was absorbed .