A special war crimes tribunal found the 62-year-old leader guilty in May last year. With the apex court rejecting his appeal, his fate appears sealed. Only a day earlier on Sunday, another war crimes court found media tycoon Mir Quasem Ali guilty on ten counts including murder and abduction during the war of independence.

The government is unlikely to entertain a mercy plea since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power promising justice to the families of the victims of the Jammat and its allies during the war.  Another clear pointer that these convicted Jamaat leaders have reached their end was the presence of war veterans outside the court who cheered the verdict and demanded its implementation. 

“We want the verdict to be implemented soon,” Nasiruddin Yusuf, a filmmaker and war veteran, told reporters.

The Jamaat Chief, Motiur Rahman Nizami, was given death sentence last week for his role as the head of the pro-Pak government militia. The Jamaat called a nationwide strike following the sentencing of Nizami; the call evoked a mixed response 

Mir Quasem Ali has been held guilty of running a torture cell for Nizami’s militia.  His television station and newspaper are aligned with the Jamaat. He protested loudly when the verdict was pronounced in the open court.  He accused the court of acting on government instructions, saying, “It’s a motivated judgement”.

The prosecution has a different take.  “We have finally got justice to the innocents teenager Jashim, who was murdered by Ali run torture cell”, Ziad Al Malum, who appeared for the State in the case, said.

Clearly these are bad days for the Jamaat-i-Islami, (JI), which was a power unto itself not only during 1971 but also whenever BNP came to power. In a manner of speaking, past is catching up with the Jamaat leadership.

Mir Quasem Ali had a long innings with Jamaat’s powerful student wing. He played a key role in reviving the JI through a network of charities, businesses and trusts.  He was arrested two years ago and since then his Diganta Media Corporation which owns a pro-Jamaat daily and a television station has fallen on bad days. The TV channel was shut down on government’s orders last year after it came under fire for inciting religious tensions.

The war time crimes were reopened in 2010 after Sheikh Hasina led Awami League came to power. Punishment for the 1971 guilty was her poll pledge. Anywhere between 300,000 and 500,000 people were brutally killed during the war.