We have been living in an era of interim reports. We saw interim reports of employment data, out and rescinded as interim. The gdp back series data pulled back and changed, list is endless. Consumer spending survey, rafale cag report, rbi report on demonetization, niti ayog report on sdg India index. Interim reports take the government by surprise, are pulled back and either defanged or whitewashed or sometimes if manipulation is difficult or reports are beyond redemption, shelved. Institutions meant to be independent are often reminded that times have changed. This time on the 12th June AI plane crash, we have a report, the civil aviation minister rushed to call interim, not because it indicted the government but because people called it out. Interim is a term facilitating strategic U turns. Testing the waters and if challenged “Interim “. Interim reports are released to guide immediate actions required. What immediate actions does Air Accident Investigation Bureau wish to guide forward. It has put forward an absurd hypothesis blaming the pilots of commiting suicide bombing taking 250 passengers along with them. 40 seconds into takeoff the plane falls, and the reason fuel switches cut off and pilots asking who between them did it. Pilots with 8000 hours of flying time couldn’t check fuel switches. There is a rush to declare that no mechanical error was detected. No one is buying it. The pilots are angry, calling it a smear campaign against those who can’t defend themselves. The relatives of the victims call it a cover up to protect the airline, Boeing and the government. International aviation security experts are not convinced either. Why can’t the government ever admit to any shortcomings. The government and all its institutions have become extensions of one man and any failure would reflect directly on him. There has been no sense of closure for any of the victims in this era.
Interim failures are final successes
