Azhar, who was released by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in December 1999 in exchange for the release of the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814, had emerged from years of seclusion to call for "jihad against India” in 2014.

Since then, as this Hindustan Times report points out, Azhar has openly called for resumption of the so-called “holy war” against India.

While addressing a rally at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 2014 over the phone, Azhar had made his intentions clear.

“There are 313 fidayeen in this gathering and if a call is given, the number will go up to 3,000,” he was quoted as saying at the time.