Know the history of the 20th March. We bring to our readers the most significant events which changed history. This story talks about the Nirbhaya incident and other significant events of the day from the pages of History.

Hello, I am time. I have witnessed it all. Be the creation or be the distraction. So today I bring to you the history of 20th March.  Firstly join me in wishing a very happy birthday to melodious Alka Yagnik and eminent writer Samlana Ali. This is also a day when ‘Antaheen’ the Bengali film on love and loneliness won the Golden Lotus Award for Best Feature Film in 2010.

The other significant event from the pages of the history of 20th March is the execution of the four men for the Nirbhaya incident. Besides the history of 20th March also remembers the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah who invaded and occupied Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire in India. The other sensational event on this day is the recognition of the Yamuna and Ganges rivers as “living entities”.

The execution of the monsters

In 2012, a horrific incident took place in New Delhi, India, where a 23-year-old woman physiotherapy intern who came to be known the world over as Nirbhaya, the fearless one, was gang-raped and brutally murdered on a moving bus. The incident sparked outrage and protests across the country, leading to demands for swift justice for the victim.

After a long legal battle, the four men named Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26), and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were convicted for the crime and finally executed on March 20, 2020. This was the first time that India had executed anyone since 2013, marking a significant moment in the country’s legal history.

The execution of the four convicts was carried out at Tihar jail in New Delhi, where they had been kept on death row for several years. The hanging was conducted in secrecy, with the families of the convicts being informed only after the execution had taken place.

The execution was widely welcomed by the victim’s family and others who had been fighting for justice for over seven years. It was also seen as a victory for women’s rights and a strong message to perpetrators of sexual crimes in India.

However, the execution also raised questions about the fairness of the Indian justice system and the use of the death penalty. Some critics argued that the death penalty was not an effective deterrent for crimes and that the focus should be on addressing the root causes of sexual violence in society.

Overall, the hanging of the four men for the 2012 gang rape and murder was a significant moment in India’s legal history and a reminder of the need to address the issue of sexual violence in the country.

Nadir Shah Invades India

In the history of 20th March in the year 1739, the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah invaded and occupied Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire in India. Nadir Shah was a military commander and conqueror who had previously led successful campaigns in Persia and Central Asia.

Nadir Shah’s invasion of Delhi was motivated by a desire to plunder the city’s riches, which were legendary throughout the world. Delhi was known for its wealth of precious gems, including the famous Peacock Throne, which was studded with diamonds and other precious stones.

When Nadir Shah arrived in Delhi, he found a city filled with riches beyond his wildest dreams. The Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah had amassed an enormous collection of jewels and treasures, which were stored in the royal palace.

Nadir Shah ordered his troops to sack the city, and they proceeded to loot and pillage their way through Delhi, killing and enslaving thousands of people in the process. The Peacock Throne was one of the most valuable treasures that Nadir Shah’s troops seized, along with countless other jewels and precious objects.

See Also

History of 18th September – Puri comes under British rule

The plundering of Delhi by Nadir Shah and his troops was a devastating blow to the Mughal Empire, which was already in decline. The loss of the Peacock Throne and other treasures weakened the empire’s prestige and undermined its authority in the eyes of its subjects and the wider world.

Nadir Shah’s invasion of Delhi was a significant event in the history of India, marking the end of the Mughal era and the beginning of a period of political fragmentation and instability. The theft of the Peacock Throne also became a symbol of the rapaciousness of foreign conquerors and the vulnerability of India’s vast wealth to exploitation and plunder.

The river comes alive 

In the history of 20th March, we find another sensational event in the year 2017. It is this day the Uttarakhand High Court in India declared the Yamuna and Ganges rivers as “living entities” with legal rights similar to those of a person. This landmark decision aimed to provide legal protection to the rivers and ensure their conservation and preservation.

The ruling came after a petition was filed by an environmental lawyer, arguing that the two rivers were being subjected to severe pollution and degradation due to human activities such as the dumping of waste and industrial effluents. The court found that the rivers were of great cultural and spiritual significance to the people of India and held a vital ecological and environmental value, which required immediate attention to safeguard their future.

The decision of the court means that the rivers are now considered legal entities, and any harm caused to them will be treated as if it were caused to a person. The court appointed officials to act as legal custodians of the rivers, who would work towards the conservation and preservation of the rivers and their ecosystems. This decision was seen as a significant step in the direction of protecting the country’s natural resources and ensuring their sustainable use.