War, Riots and Commissions

In the aftermath of wars and riots, certain instances remain. Other than the destruction caused, the state creates a new commission to view the cause and reason behind the incidences. several commissions are launched and their report is made public. Some highlight the treachery of the state, some highlight the flawed response of the state while some others just delay the process of justice. The question that needs to be asked is whether commissions are required. It also is questionable whether the reports contribute anything to pro-active action, rather than awareness.

If you take the instance of the Winograd report, one can say that Israel failed in its adequate planning of the War strategy in Lebanon. The result of this is that the state acknowledged the theory, and that it represented a moral victory for the Arab nations. The war in Lebanon was indeed one of attrition for Israel, but the people who blundered have been let off. The fact of the matter is that the War could not be prevented. Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, who should have been responsible for the War conduct, if going by the chain of command structure, got only a slap in the wrist.

The spectre of commissions is nothing new for India. The Nanavati commission to probe into the Anti-Sikh riots, the Mandal commission to proble into the Quota system and commissions relating to the Gujarat riots have all been drafted. The public have been made aware, but the trend has been rather to obfuscate the real matter.

If one looks at the plight of the Gujarat riot victims, then nothing has been served, as the alleged mastermind of the riots, Mr. Narendra Modi, has been elected again as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Nobody is able to do anything. The same is also evident for the Anti-sikh riot instigators of 1984. The media is creating awareness about the incident now, but it is still not doing anything. The quota system is a complete muddle. The Mandal commission ensured that the societal system of India be thrown out of gear. This chaos would then spill over into the economy and the education system.

Several commissions have been founded all over the world to monitor country developments in any field. The underlining fact is that they just give you plenty of material to ponder over, but does not enable groups of individuals to take any action. The basic detriment also arises in the fact that commissions can attract a lot of criticism from independent organizations. Human rights watchgroups have criticized the Winograd report for not highlighting the issue of abuse during the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.

Flaws have been picked out by independent human rights organizations, which creates distrust among the public. The public now goes in with a mentality that a commission might delay, obfuscate or hide the actions of the state. The basis for action is indeed difficult. But, the problem also lies in the fact that commissions cannot be done away with. The fact that it creates awareness is the reason why it still is being initiated.

Wars and riots are indeed the worst actions that a state can initiate. Commissions are used to either hide their actions or to just highlight the situation on the ground. But, very few tend to initiate action. The Mandal commission report ushered in action, because it was fundamentally wrong. But, when it comes to riots and wars, people need to trust their conscience and do something to stop it, because bundles of paper cannot.