For those in China and Pakistan who will call for more evidence, the writing, like the signature of the group, is on the wall.

Every February, security agencies put out heightened alert warnings in Jammu and Kashmir, as they expect terror groups operating there to target security forces and installations around the date of February 9, when Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged.

Groups like the JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) and LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) glorify him, as much for his perceived role in the attack in December 2001 that killed nine guards and Parliament staff, as much as to renew the perception in the Kashmir Valley that he was not given a proper burial and the full process of appeals.

As a result, the JeM’s “Afzal Guru squad” has made a point of leaving their signature at several attacks linked to them: letters in blood, charcoal notes on the wall with his name were found first in May 2014 when the Indian consulate at Herat in Afghanistan was attacked and then in a series of strikes on Army and CRPF camps along the LoC and International Border, Mohra and Tangdhar in north Kashmir and in Kathua and Samba in Jammu division the next year.

At the same time as it carried out the Pathankot airbase attack in January 2016, JeM terrorists attacked the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, leaving behind notes on Afzal Guru as they had with the others, “one martyr, a thousand fidayeen”.

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It is significant that in the Pulwama attack videos, the attacker, identified as Adil Ahmed Dar, a local, is shown surrounded by weapons and grenades, but doesn’t mention Afzal Guru himself. However, the group that put the videos out after editing and completing them, added a scroll that said “AGS (Afzal Guru Squad).

Officials say they are still investigating the link to the group, but it seems clear that the attack falls in line with other attacks planned by Masood Azhar and his JeM: within a few months of him being released in exchange for hostages on board flight IC-814 on December 31, 1999, the JeM carried out a suicide car bomb attack on the Army Headquarters in Srinagar (May 2000) and a similar attack on the Srinagar legislature (September 2001), which killed 39 people. The Parliament attack just a few months later was carried out by the JeM as well, although more recent studies have indicated that it was working with elements of the Pakistani army to force a situation that would allow Islamabad to withdraw forces from its border with Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden was able to slip away despite being cornered in the Tora Bora standoff.

That Azhar was responsible for the IC-814 hijacking is proven beyond doubt, and has been accepted by himself in his book (From Imprisonment to Freedom), recounting his time in Indian jails from 1993-1999.

Despite what appears to be a mountain of evidence since then, as well as the banning of the JeM itself, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has failed to ban Azhar and put him on its 1267/1373 lists of banned terrorists.

The main obstacle at present is China, which has vetoed the banning on at least three occasions as it maintains there is “no consensus” on the issue.

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The second reason is Pakistan itself, which has allowed Azhar to settle as a civilian in the Punjabi city of Bahawalpur, and does not prevent him from holding rallies to recruit militants, particularly in the name of Afzal Guru, whom he often quotes in books and speeches. This, despite him being accused of a car bomb assassination attempt on former Pakistan President Musharraf as well.

Some blame also rests on the India’s lack of focus post 26/11, when it strengthened efforts towards the prosecution of LeT founder Hafiz Saeed.

Azhar came back on the radar only after the Pathankot attack in January 2016. India renewed its efforts to have him banned, and protested China’s attempts to block the UNSC application.

After the Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping, however, India’s concerns on Azhar, a visible irritant in ties, once again slipped through the mentions, as the two countries attempted to build their relations again.

Azhar, JeM and the Afzal Guru Squad are back in the limelight again after the Pulwama attack, and India is likely to work with the U.S., the United Kingdom and others once again to put Azhar onto the ban list with details of the attack. For those in China and Pakistan who will call for more evidence, the writing, like the signature of the group, is on the wall.