`Butcher of Mirpur`: Who was Abdul Quader Molla?

Abdul Quader Molla, leader of Bangladesh`s Jamaat-e-Islami party who was infamously known as `Butcher of Mirpur` and a former executive editor of The Daily Sangram, was born in 1948 in Faridpur.

Zee Media Bureau

Abdul Quader Molla, a senior leader of Bangladesh`s Jamaat-e-Islami party and a former executive editor of The Daily Sangram, was born in 1948 in Faridpur. Molla took an active part in the activities of Jamaat`s student wing, then known as Islami Chatra Sangha (ICS), while he was a student of science at Rajendra College. In 1971, when the party opposed the independence movement in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), Molla joined the feared paramilitary force, al-Badr. Also Read: Bangladesh executes Islamist hardliner Abdul Quader Molla For his atrocities and for siding with Pakistani troops during the 1971 war, Molla was dubbed the "Butcher of Mirpur", after a Dhaka suburb where he led the al Badr militia in slaughtering a large number of people, including women and children. He was charged in December 2011 with abetting the Pakistani army and actively participating in the 1971 atrocities and was convicted of killing 344 civilians as well as rape and other crimes. He denied all charges against him. Molla was tried on six counts, including playing a role in the killing of 381 unarmed civilians and was found guilty on five of six counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was sentenced by the tribunal to life in prison – this caused huge anger in the country. Many took to streets demanding he be executed. On 17 September the Bangladesh Supreme Court increased his life jail term to a death sentence. Following his death sentence the attorney general ruled out an appeal, meaning his only chance of clemency would be a presidential pardon. And as per media reports, Molla refused to seek presidential clemency. Upon his execution on December 12, Molla became the first war crimes convict to be sent to the gallows since the country`s independence in 1971.