WHEN DECLASSIFIED FILES GO ABEGGING

Well said, Rajyashree Chaudhuri, perceptive you are in your reading of the situation that exists all around in the circles discussing the disappearance of Netaji. Frothy cherry-picked off-hand verbal brandishing is tantamount to nothing substantial. Thorough engagement in this venture of research and investigative reading may lead one closer to the truth, if at all. At the very least, one must have the mental resource to go through the contents of the declassified files and the Enquiry Commission / Committee Reports if one is to judge well of the matter that mystifies all. Far later will follow clarity of understanding to be able to appreciate the nuances of the case and whether there will be an easy answer to this rather messy affair that seemingly involves the bigwigs of many a nation.

Will it lead to a massive mayhem in the light of perfidies perpetrated by the powers that be? Will it undermine diplomatic relations between friendly nations? Will it lead to an overhauling of the historical narrative of the freedom struggle of this nation and a complete new understanding of the lives and careers of major world leaders who may have been party to the 'enforced' disappearance or possibly 'death' of the great Indian patriot? Well, the mist will clear only through the heat of austerity of study and not by casual flinging of unsubstantiated ideas churning conspiracy theories by the hour.

Time for sanity indeed if there is to be any substantial progress in this matter beyond idle speculation and vain talk. The rational mode, the spirit of empirical enquiry, the methodology of the exact sciences will serve as the basis for this investigation and not preconceived notions based on personal preference or prejudice. Facts unearthed must be mastered through careful study and plausible theories in the absence of concrete verifiable narratives hypothetically built up instead of thrusting preformed concoctions seeking verification in fact revealed and rejecting the revelation should the predisposition to assumed truth fail to stand up to the light of discovered data.

In essence all effort should be geared to the study of the plethora of information seeking their way through the dust of decades of disregard, disowning and disinheritance by the dispensers of democracy to the people of this nation. This is the one way then that remains for the discovery of the truth of Netaji's disappearance, for scholarship invariably finds its way through the labyrinth of this world, however tortuous the path may be to the enlightening end. Vande Mataram! Jai Hind!