Hangman’s noose for Bangladeshi war criminal
Rarely does the apex court enhance the sentence handed by a lower court anywhere in the world. Bangladesh’s Supreme Court did that on Tuesday when it upgraded razakar Abdul Qader Mollah’s life sentence, awarded by the war crimes tribunal, to a death sentence. In doing so, the five-member appeals panel of the apex court has taken the case against Mollah to its logical conclusion as well as responded to that country’s cries for justice, no matter the incidental costs. Mollah's supporters have, as expected, taken to violence and vandalism, rioting in Chittagong and Khulna on Tuesday — much like they had wreaked havoc in Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh back in February when the assistant secretary-general of the Jamaat-e-Islami was convicted of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 war of liberation. Mollah's February sentence, considered too lenient by Bangladesh's secular majority, sparked what has since come to be known as the Shahbag Protest. Thousands poured on to the streets demanding that the razakar, infamous as the ‘Butcher of Mirpur’, be hanged to death. So intense was the public pressure that the Government had to eventually amend the laws governing the war crimes tribunal so as to allow prosecutors to appeal the verdict in the Supreme Court. With the apex court now converting Mollah's life term into a death sentence, the Shahbag Protest has come full circle.
Mollah joins the ranks of five other Jamaati leaders who are finally being held accountable for their insidious role in bloodying the birth of Bangladesh. It is expected that this death sentence will be carried out by the end of this year, once all appeals and processes have been exhausted — and hopefully before a new Government takes charge in Dhaka. The timing is important to ensure that the top-ranking Jamaati leader is not whisked away from the gallows at the last minute in case the Jamaat’s political ally, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, comes to power. The trial of 1971 war criminals was a key electoral promise of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the 2009 poll, and her Awami league Government, therefore, has a special interest in ensuring that the likes of Mollah are punished. Her opponent and BNP chief Khaleda Zia, however, has not only forged electoral alliances with the Jamaatis but when in power, had also offered them high positions in her administration.
This time around the Jamaat-e-Islami has been banned from contesting the general election as the party does not adhere to core constitutional values, but that does not take away from the fact that Ms Hasina faces an uphill electoral battle. The war crimes trial (and Ms Zia's studied silence on the conviction of Jamaati leaders) will count in her favour but it may not be enough to offset the anti-incumbency sentiment fuelled by allegations of corruption. The Awami league’s defeat in the July mayoral elections is a worrying sign. Against this backdrop, it is imperative that New Delhi support Ms Hasina's pro-India regime by doing all that it can from its end. There are deliverables that have been held up at India’s end, and they might just help tilt the scales decisively in Ms Hasina's favour if progress on them is made.