Masood Azhar: Why the world must hold Pakistan accountable now
Synopsis
India's Operation Sindoor did what the international community failed to do for decades — it forced the question of Pakistan's complicity with Masood Azhar into the open. The destruction of the Markaz Subhan Allah complex in Bahawalpur on 7 May 2025, killing ten members of the Azhar family, produced documentary proof of what Islamabad had spent years denying.
Key Takeaways
Masood Azhar was released from Indian custody in December 1999 as part of the IC-814 hijacking exchange, escorted to Pakistan by the ISI .
Jaish-e-Mohammed was established by early 2000 under Pakistani intelligence oversight and carried out the 2001 Parliament attack , the 2016 Pathankot strike, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.
China vetoed four UN attempts between 2009 and 2019 to designate Azhar a global terrorist, relenting only after the Pulwama attack.
India's Operation Sindoor struck the Markaz Subhan Allah complex in Bahawalpur on 7 May 2025 , killing 10 Azhar family members and reportedly Abdul Rauf Asghar , JeM's operational commander.
Azhar's post-strike statement acknowledged family deaths without disputing their organisational affiliation, undermining Pakistan's long-standing denials.
The story of Masood Azhar, founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), is not simply the biography of a terrorist — it is a decades-long indictment of Pakistan's relationship with state-sponsored extremism. From his release in 1999 to the destruction of his family's operational headquarters in Bahawalpur on 7 May 2025, Azhar's career has functioned as a sustained refutation of Islamabad's claim to be a good-faith partner in global counter-terrorism.
From Arrest to Freedom: The IC-814 Exchange
Born in Bahawalpur in 1968, Azhar grew up in a Deobandi religious environment, joined Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in his early twenties, and travelled to Britain, Saudi Arabia, and East Africa to raise funds for jihadist causes. By 1994, he had assumed an operational role, travelling to Jammu and Kashmir on what he described as a
Point of View
The international community treated Pakistan's denials about Masood Azhar as a diplomatic inconvenience rather than a strategic threat. Operation Sindoor has changed the evidentiary baseline. The Markaz Subhan Allah compound — 18 acres in a major Pakistani city, operating openly for 25 years — was not the infrastructure of a rogue actor; it was the infrastructure of a protected asset. China's four UN vetoes, each citing a vague lack of evidence, now look less like procedural caution and more like deliberate cover. The harder question the international community must now answer is not whether Pakistan sheltered Azhar, but whether it will finally impose costs for having done so.
NationPress
10 May 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Masood Azhar and why is he significant?
Masood Azhar is the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation responsible for the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, the 2016 Pathankot airbase strike, and the 2019 Pulwama bombing that killed 40 Indian paramilitary personnel. He was designated a UN global terrorist in May 2019 after China lifted its decade-long veto on the listing.
How was Masood Azhar freed from Indian custody?
Azhar was released in December 1999 when Pakistani militants hijacked Indian Airlines Flight IC-814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar, forcing the Indian government to exchange three jailed terrorists for the surviving passengers. He was subsequently escorted to Pakistan by the ISI and helped establish Jaish-e-Mohammed by early 2000.
What did India's Operation Sindoor strike in Bahawalpur?
On 7 May 2025, India struck the Markaz Subhan Allah complex in Bahawalpur — an 18-acre compound that served as Jaish-e-Mohammed's national headquarters. The strike killed 10 members of the Azhar family and four close aides; Indian assessments indicate that JeM operational commander Abdul Rauf Asghar was also killed, though Pakistani sources have not formally confirmed this.
Why did China repeatedly block Masood Azhar's UN designation?
China vetoed four separate attempts between 2009 and 2019 to list Azhar as a UN-designated terrorist, citing a lack of evidence each time despite extensive documentation linking JeM to major attacks in India. Beijing relented in May 2019 following sustained international pressure after the Pulwama suicide bombing.
What does Operation Sindoor prove about Pakistan's claims?
The strike on Bahawalpur demonstrated that Azhar — whom Pakistan claimed in 2019 had fled to Afghanistan — was living and operating in a major Pakistani city with his family and full organisational infrastructure intact. Azhar's own post-strike statement acknowledged family deaths without disputing their JeM affiliation, directly contradicting Islamabad's long-standing denials of harbouring the group.
