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 the last time 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.
She made the gesture before she even met her husband.
Her son Hasan Jamil explained: “Of course we have won. 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.
After Molla’s execution was stayed by the chamber judge around 10:30pm, Jamil told the Dhaka Tribune that it was a signal from Allah.
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.
A total of 23 members of the war criminal’s family including his son, four daughters, their husbands and his brother-in-law entered the prison, where they stayed for an hour or so.
When they came out of the jail around 8:56pm, Jamil termed the execution “political killing.”
He also said his father’s physical and mental conditions were completely stable and he had told them to not worry.
According to Jamil, Molla also told them: “I was your guardian until today. Now God will take over the duty. This is your good fortune. I am facing this destiny only because of my involvement with Islamic movement.”
Jamil quoted his father as saying he would not have been hanged had he not been involved with the movement and those who had been trying to hand him by force would have to suffer. The “Islamic revolution” would take the “revenge.”
When asked about seeking presidential clemency, Molla said he thought he would get more time to think, said his daughter Parvin.
“But suddenly at night, the government decided to hang him. Now it does not mean anything to us. Father’s last word was: ‘by establishing an Islamic state, we will take revenge someday’,” Parvin said.
