JeM chief Masood Azhar declares renewed war on India after 20 years of silence

Terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), chief Masood Azhar recently vowed war on India and Israel in his first address to the cadre in over two decades, according to an online digital forum operated by the group.

Timed to mark the centennial of the dissolution of the Turkish caliphate in 1924—which laid spiritual and temporal authority over all Muslims—Azhar’s speech vows renewed jihadist operations against India and Israel that will lead to the establishment of a new worldwide Islamic order.

The JeM did not release the date when the speech was made or the location where it was delivered. Even though Jaish-linked digital platforms have released old speeches by Azhar periodically, this is the first that can conclusively be dated because of its references to the ongoing Gaza war.

An Indian intelligence officer familiar with the JeM was quoted as saying it was likely held late last month at the 1,000-acre Umm-ul-Qura seminary and mosque complex outside Bahawalpur in Pakistan. The building includes an administrative block, and several housing blocks.

In the latest speech, Masood urges his audience to join the internationally proscribed terrorist group for what he describes as a long battle to restore the caliphate. “India, your death is coming,” the terror commander shouts repeatedly as loud applause breaks out repeatedly.

Even though Pakistani authorities had announced they had taken administrative control of the complex in 2019, the JeM has erected new buildings and armed guard posts to prevent unauthorized entry, a local resident was quoted as saying.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto announced in 2022 that Azhar had escaped to Afghanistan, ahead of an attempt by Pakistani authorities to declare him a proclaimed offender. The declaration was made even as Pakistan mounted a successful effort to be removed from a terror finance watchlist maintained by the multinational Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Azhar had been restricted from making public appearances ever since a breakaway group of the Jaish attempted the life of Pakistan’s former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in 2003, according to media reports.

Earlier, he had been imprisoned in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament, but was never prosecuted. Later, in 2016, he was taken into what Pakistani authorities described as “protective custody”.

There has never been an official statement on when he was released from protective custody, and the circumstances around his purported trip to Afghanistan.