History cannot be wiped out: Justice Srikrishna

Mumbai: History cannot be wiped out, said Justice B N Srikrishna (retd), a legal luminary while inaugurating a photo-exhibition of the 1992-93 communal riots in Mumbai, that occurred after the demolition of the Babri Masjid; and the devastating March 12, 1993 serial blasts in the financial capital of India. 

In the aftermath of the twin incidents, Justice Srikrishna had presided over a Commission of Inquiry, and presented  a comprehensive report to the Maharashtra government. 

"The sense of ‘us’ and ‘them’ must be eliminated," Justice Srikrishna said at the Mumbai Press Club after inaugurating ‘Forty-Four Thousand Words: A Photo Exhibition Showcasing the Haunting Memories of the 1992 Riots and 1993 Bomb Blasts’.

In his address, Justice Srikrishna gave the example of Holocaust Museum LA, formerly known as Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. “This is in the United States and not Germany…but the exhibition has a purpose…you cannot wipe out history… Exhibitions like these serve as a lesson on what must not be repeated and what needs to change,” he said.

A former Supreme Court judge, Justice Srikrishna also served as Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court and a judge of the Bombay High Court.

“As human beings we should be accommodative,” he said, adding that the vicious atmosphere needs to be eliminated. “Religion unites people and eliminates the concept of discrimination,” he said, quoting Adi Shankaracharya. “Why on Earth should there be discrimination, differentiation,” the legal luminary asked.