Taliban Top Leader Anas Haqqani Hails Mahmud Ghaznavi For 'Smashing Somnath Temple Idol'; Indians Hit Back

In a provocative act, Taliban top leader Anas Haqqani has glorified Mahmud Ghaznavi and his act of breaking the Somnath temple idol stating that his reign had instilled 'pride and courage' into the Taliban.

Haqqani visited the shrine of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi on Tuesday. Taking to Twitter, he glorified Ghaznavi who had demolished the Somnath idol in the past. The tweet has caused an uproar on social media for its provocative contents.

"Today, we visited the shrine of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi, a renowned Muslim warrior & Mujahid of the 10th century. Ghaznavi (May the mercy of Allah be upon him) established a strong Muslim rule in the region from Ghazni & smashed the idol of Somnath," Anas Haqqani said in a tweet.

Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked India 17 times and destroyed the Somnath temple in Gujarat. During his invasion into Somnath, Ghaznavi is said to have broked the Jyotirlinga and killed thousands of devotees who were trying to protect the temple.

The contemporary Somnath temple's reconstruction was started under the orders of the first Home Minister of India Vallabhbhai Patel and was completed in May 1951 after his death

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kapil Sharma and various other social media users took to twitter to remind Haqqani that Somnath was still standing high, while the cities of Ghaznavi were perishing.