Why do Pakistanis consider Mahmud Ghazni, Mohammad Ghauri and Aurangzeb Great Muslims?

I am an Indian and a Hindu but I am not a fundamentalist. I believe in the composite heritage of Hindus and Muslims and I think both are pillars of India. However, if we go back into History, we will find some disturbing truths. Everybody in both India and Pakistan know about our ancient Indus Valley Civilization and the sites are located in both India and Pakistan. Subsequently, in the ancient historical period, there were glorious years of Ashoka the Great and Chandragupta. In those days, India was divided into big and small Hindu or Dravidian states, with few states ruled by newly converted Buddhists and Jains. Islam came much later to India, when Mohammad Ghauri attacked India and specially the Hindu Ruler Prithviraj Chauhan, on the Invitation of His archenemy Jaichand. Subsequently, the Northwestern states of India were plundered and looted by other Muslim conquerors including Ghazni and later on by the Mughals. In that duration, lots of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam, especially the higher caste Hindus and that continued till the horrific reign of Aurangzeb.


However, I fail to understand why Pakistanis are so proud of these conquerors and mass murderers. Pakistan had even named its missiles after Ghazni and Ghauri. By these acts, they have perversely sought to commemorate these
Afghan rulers of Turkish descent in utter disregard of the fact
that most of the territories they plundered are their own - the
North West Frontier Province, the Punjab and Sind. The men and
women they tortured, enslaved, ravished and put to the sword were
their own forebears. Almost all of the Pakistanis might be having a Hindu ancestry, which might go back in time immemorial. People like Jinnah and Sheikh Abdullah had a Hindu ancestry. Christian missionaries seldom used methods of coercion to convert Hindus into Christianity unlike the cruel mercenaries like Ghazni and company. I agree that Akbar was one of the best Muslims because he had respect for Hinduism and believed in a composite culture but Aurangzeb was entirely the opposite. He killed his own brothers for the lust of power and imposed the most severe form of Islamic Rule, while not hesitating to kill the people of his own community who opposed him. One of the tallest leaders of Partition movement once said in his remarks that Jinnah was the greatest Muslim after Aurangzeb. I don’t know how this was said as Jinnah was completely different person. He had a modern outlook and wanted Pakistan to be a modern and secular Islamic state, on the lines of Ataturk’s Turkey.

To conclude, I wish that Pakistanis understand their past in a more holistic way. The forefathers of both the country’s populations have suffered in the hands of the so-called heroes. We as Indians always want a strong and stable Pakistan and majority of us don’t have any animosity against the common Pakistanis. Akbar the great or Sufis like Bulle Shah or even Jinnah can inspire one but worshipping the plunderers and mass murderers who devastated our ancestors is not at all justified.