All hail the greatest secular conqueror after Genghis Khan himself: Taimur Lang! He ruled from Georgia to China and was the hero we all needed and deserved. He united the Muslim world under one banner of secularism. He conquered most part of North India, and sacked Delhi, peacefully. Historical evidence suggests he was peace loving, non discriminating ruler who had the heart of a lamb. He set forth a bright idea of a new secular world order for the first time. He positively influenced Renaissance, Sultanates, languages and culture. Even though he limped, he had love for all people of the world irrespective of their religion. He was a great social reformer, who tried to curb fascist Hindus from becoming too arrogant.

However the Hindus managed to survive that secular peaceful drive like they would continue to, for hundreds of years. No sane couple should name their kid after some saffron clad violent fascist bhagwa reformer like Vivekananda or Dayanand Saraswati.

Well, enough with the sarcasm. Factually, Taimur (Timur) is hailed as a hero in the Middle East today, officially in Uzbekistan where his statue stands replacing the statue of Karl Marx. Islamic scholars praise him for great leadership and military abilities. Nader Shah followed his footsteps years later, mimicking the military designs. He reunited the Muslim world, which only Genghis Khan could do before him. But why is he hated so much in India? Why are people so enraged at Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor for naming their child after him? What did Taimur Lang do to get so much hate?

History tells us that Taimur was a cruel, cold hearted conqueror with a lot of hate for the non Muslim ethnicity. Even though all conquerors have known to be great mass murderers, Taimur is known to have executed surrendered soldiers and civilians solely on the basis of religion. This did not happen after the siege of a Muslim populated area, but places like Multan and Delhi, witnessed horrors at his hand. Not just Hindus, he single-handedly exterminated the Church of the East and was very cruel towards the Christians as well. Basically, he was a staunch Muslim, wanted the entire world to be under Islamic rule and hated people of every other religion.

One great example of his cruelty is the siege of Delhi. After crossing Afghanistan, Taimur was told about Hindustan and its capital Delhi, which was very rich and prosperous. He decided to sack and loot, if possible, but not rule. As his army moved South East, it massacred every Hindu and Zoroastrian (Parsis) in its way, including places like Asampadi, Tughlaqpur and Multan. Panipat was demolished and burnt to ashes. Before reaching Delhi, it had gathered around one lakh Hindu prisoners. He executed them before attacking Delhi.

The army of Delhi Sultanate had a huge number of elephants which threatened a huge loss of his army. He ordered that all his camels be loaded with hay and set on fire, then prodded them with iron sticks making then run upfront. The elephants, afraid of the approaching fire, stampeded their own army, confirming an easy win for Taimur Lang. Taimur had no intentions of ruling this far East, and was here only for the loot. The biggest difference between Genghis Khan and him was that Genghis Khan had ordered his forces to refrain from looting, raping, pillaging and murdering while Taimur did the opposite. The city of Delhi was purposely destroyed, including all the temples and idols. There was an uprising by the civilians, which included Muslims and Hindus alike. It was a massacre. Days after the uprising, the city reeked of dead and decomposing body. The heads were cut off and was displayed as a message for the world to see. While returning from Delhi, he stopped at Meerut and had 30,000 Hindus executed.

For us Indians, a barbarian, with little to no humanity left in him, who invaded for the sole purpose of looting, pillaging and exterminating people of other religions cannot be a hero. A child cannot be named after him the destroyer of humanity. Yes, he was a conqueror, an emperor, a fan to the fire of Islam, even yet he cannot be, in any sense even slightly considered a role model, an inspiring entity, a great human being.

To the people trying to defend the celebrity couple stating the etymology of the name and that it is not necessary that the child must have been named after the emperor: Kareena Kapoor stated recently that Saif Ali Khan was a history buff and wanted to name the forthcoming child accordingly. To the people saying one should not indulge in a couple’s personal choices, we must remember, the celebrities are role models for many. Many people look upto them. Their personal life isn’t so personal like a common man, and this is one of the cons of being popular. The freedom of speech allows anyone to talk about their child’s name, and also how distasteful it is.

If Saif Ali Khan is actually a history buff and knows a little about the atrocities Taimur Lang committed on our ancestors, especially on the Hindus, then his disregard for the Hindus in this country, as well as disregard for humanity in general is astonishingly high.

It’s very similar to the names of Pakistani missiles, which has blatant disregard for their own history and humanity. As Saif Ali Khan himself is a Pathan, and not a descendant of the Indians who were converted to Islam years ago, the decision of naming their child Taimur after an Islamic conqueror is a symbol of many things, truth be told. But to the majority of Indians, a barbarian, a destroyer of humanity, an orchestrator of religious massacres cannot be a hero. Scholars estimate that his conquests caused the death of 17 million people, which makes about 5 percent of the then world population. Ashoka was a conqueror too, but this man, is not a hero, not an inspiring entity and not a role model at all.