The 2013 Shahbag protests, associated with the Shahbag neighborhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh, began on February 5, 2013, and later spread to other parts of Bangladesh, demanding capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah and others convicted of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.^[5][6] On that day, the International Crimes Tribunal had sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah to life in prison after he was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes.^[7][8] Later the demands widened to ban the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party from politics, as its leaders have been convicted of genocide and war crimes, and to boycott institutions supporting or affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami.^[9]
The sentence led to widespread discontent, as protesters called it lenient. Critics started protests and demonstrations at Shahbag intersection in central Dhaka, where they demanded the death penalty for Molla and the deradicalisation of politics.^[10][11] Bloggers and online activists called for further mass demonstration at Shahbag intersection.^[12][13] Thousands of people joined the demonstration, and the demonstration has given rise to the 2013 Shahbag protests.^[14]
Since the start of protests, tens of thousands of people have been holding day-and-night vigils at Shahbag. They say they refuse to leave until all those convicted of war crimes are sentenced to capital punishment.^[15] A counter protest, demanding release of the convicted and accused persons, was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami, as most of the accused were their political leaders. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had initially expressed its support for Jamaat-e-Islami, a principal political ally.^[16] However, the BNP later cautiously welcomed the Shahbag Protest, warning that the government shouldn't be allowed to draw political mileage from the movement that is demanding capital punishment for war criminals.^[17]
During the protests, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a protester and blogger critical of Jamaat-e-Islami, was killed.^[18][19] On March 2, five Jamaat-Shibir (Shibir being the student wing of Jamaat) activists were arrested who confessed connection to the killing of the blogger Rajib.^[20][21][22] However, Ahmed Rajib Haider commonly known as thaba baba was also accused for using vulgar words against the prophet Muhammad [pbuh] in his Facebook post which got banned and it was said that this blasphemous writing was the most prominent cause of his gruesome homicide.
On February 27, 2013 the tribunal convicted Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, also of Jamaat, of war crimes and sentenced him to death. Members of Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chatra Shibir (ICS) launched violent protests, attacking police and journalists, smashing public vehicles and setting off Molotov cocktails. This resulted in the deaths of about 60 people, most of them Jamaat-Shibir activists, along with police and civilians