ABSTRACT
This research discusses the importance of a photograph of an accused war criminal, Abdul Kader Molla, during the period immediately before the emergence of the Shahbag movement in Bangladesh. The image captures Kader Molla flashing a V sign, and it was taken in the moments after he had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh in 2013. After Kader Molla’s punishment was revised to a death sentence, a number of images were circulated online of protesters flashing the same V sign. All these moments pose a key question which this research seeks to answer: How does this image of Kader Molla signify a crucial point of reference for the mobilisation of the Shahbag movement? To provide an answer, this paper discusses a historical context of the tensions between people and the state in Bangladesh and how personalised memory can make such tensions visible.
