I flew into a rage, the morning of 8 March on seeing the 2nd Interim Statement on the MH370 Safety Investigation from Malaysia. It surprised me. It lasted many hours, and much like aftershocks, it lingered on as anger, diminished in intensity.

Evidently, some fondly held expectations had been stomped on by the Statement. There was the expectation that in the last 12 months, the investigation team would have been busy and that there will be outcomes of the exertions that will be reported. A full year is a long time. For many of us, each day has been unending, and the year, an eternity. The Statement shared (rather than a Report or Findings) was bereft, lazy and insincere, and you have to wonder if time available for the investigators collapsed to a mere infinitesimal moment, or that there was a lack of urgency.

What aggravated the sense of frustration and disappointment were an email and phone calls from Malaysia that gave me advance notice of the Statement being released. I was further advised that it would be available to families a few hours before it was made public. It seemed for a moment that some lessons had been learnt and obligations to affected families under international conventions were now being taken seriously. It roused curiosity, and since we have been reminded time and again that the best minds in the business were on the investigation team, it seemed fair to assume that insight into progress made would be possible.

The Statement gave away little.

At some level, it is understandable that official pronouncements made to meet some procedural requirements or an obligation are barely newsworthy—more often, you get the law rather than facts. What has been more striking is that in this age of swoops, scoops and leaks, how little information leakage there has been.

This in itself should make us wonder: instead of motivated leaks, is information being ‘systematically lost’?

The truth has been starved of oxygen by prolonged and extended silence. This has merely fanned the second guessing and speculations by seekers and the mischievous.

What does the flaperon reveal? What’s the story? There was an expectation that findings from a comprehensive forensic analysis would be part of the Statement. It was way back in August 2015, if memory serves me right, that this piece of debris was located. More than half a year has passed and we haven’t heard a word beyond confirmation that it was a piece of MH370. Last we knew, the French were on it. Sleeping on it?

It has been most convenient to see Malaysia as the principal villain. That country has given us a lot of grief and stands condemned. While it bears overall responsibility, it is hard to forget that investigators from prominent, ‘advanced’ countries are on the team: US, UK, France, China and Australia.

Organisations from which they are drawn have flattering reputations. There are experts from the manufacturers as well. I have to assume that these investigators and the organisations they represent bring not just expertise but also a commitment to the truth. So logically, I should have no worries whether a piece of debris is examined in France, Malaysia or Australia. I have to assume that these fine minds are not collaborators in cover-ups as alleged, or in limiting or delaying disclosure. I have to assume that they do not hide behind the cloak of convention, rules of engagement, the balance of convenience or geopolitical imperatives to explain away their silence over sparse communiques on the investigations.

Perhaps it is naïve to make and believe the assumptions as above. It is equally naïve to then condemn Malaysia rather than the investigation as a whole.

Malaysia will of course continue to be an arch symbol of obfuscation and tardiness.

For most governments, MH370 is a distant memory. The insistent demand for urgency in investigation, comprehensive disclosure of data and findings, a serious review of search areas, and a plea to ‘search on’ comes from a small number of relentless seekers who offer a steady challenge to the Malaysia–JACC–ATSB combine in Australia, thousands on social media, and the families of passengers. That is a big burden for a motley crowd seeking to nudge Malaysia and others named on the team to be faithful to the truth while they investigate, search and report

Image from DNA India.

This article originally appeared on my Facebook page.