The time by the clock on the outer wall of the Dhaka Central Jail was exactly 7:51pm, when death row war criminal Quader Molla’s family members stepped through the gates of jail.
Apart from only the children, everyone knew that it could be last time that they were going to meet Molla. They knew that he was going to be hanged in just a few hours.
But a “victory sign” came from virtually nowhere as Molla’s wife Sanoara Jahan used the index and the middle fingers on her right hand to make a gesture that is generally made when someone wins something.
Her son Hasan Jamil explained the gesture: “Of course we win. My father did not harm people and he was not served justice. So, my mother showed this sign.”
“If we do not, then who will show this?” was his rhetoric question.
Ten months ago, Molla, also known as the “butcher of Mirpur,” made the very same gesture for victory, when the International Crimes Tribunal pronounced lifetime imprisonment for the crimes against humanity that he committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
The Jamaat leader’s family members entered the prison only half an hour after State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku said Molla would be executed by last night. They were told by the prison authorities in a letter to come and visit him by 8pm.
“Your husband has been given death penalty. He is now in the Dhaka Central Jail. Please come with your family by 8pm to meet him,” read the letter that was marked “very urgent.”
Molla’s Son Hasan Jamil confirmed receiving the letter.