The 7th report of the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) on “capacity building for conflict resolution” suggested several administrative and legal steps to tackle communalism, including :

— NIC should consider all factors impinging on national cohesion, and not only communalism or communal violence.

— Substantive issues before the council may be considered in detail in smaller, subject-matter specific committees.

— The council is to meet at least once a year, while the sub-committees could meet as often as required to complete the assigned task.

— Summary proceedings of the NIC may be laid before the Houses of Parliament.

— The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and the Planning Commission may take a lead in the matter of establishing a multi-disciplinary research and policy analysis platform to discuss issues concerning national integration either in an existing institution or by promoting a new institution or as a network.

The Commission also examined the reports of various commissions of inquiry into past cases of communal conflagration such as the Justice Raghubir Dayal Commission (Ranchi riots, 1967), Justice P Jaganmohan Reddy Commission (Ahmedabad riots, 1969), Justice D P Madon Commission (Bhiwandi riots, 1970), Justice Ranganath Misra Commission (Delhi riots, 1984), Justice B N Srikrishna Commission (Bombay riots 1992-93) and also the NHRC reports. They have analysed the causes , response and shortcomings of the administration and the police in handling such crises. These causes may be categorised as under:

1. Systemic problems

— Conflict resolution mechanisms are ineffective

— Intelligence gathered is not accurate, timely and actionable

... contd.