--- The LOST Symbol ---

Dear Friends,

Judging by the hundreds of PMs I have received, many of you seem to be wondering where I had disappeared to. I am overwhelmed by your concern and affection. As it is not possible for me to answer each of you separately by PM, I am posting a common response to all.

Many of you seem to be quite shocked and frustrated to know that my history threads have been locked, due to a new rule introduced on 24 May, 2014, which restricts all discussions based on history to be conducted ONLY on the "Doubts and Discussions about Historical Facts " sticky. This was a shock to me also. I joined the forum for the pleasure of sharing knowledge and for clearing misconceptions about Mughals, notably Jodha and Akbar, as, even though dramatized, the show is based on them.

My passion for the real AKDha story drove me to create a series of 6 long and deep threads on Akbar and MUZ over a period of 9-10 months. I (and many other friends) traveled across states, met a lot of people, went through rare Mughal chronicles, Govt. archives, Royal accounts, and Persian / French / Portuguese / Dutch / Punjabi / Marathi, etc. -translated books in order to dig out/cross verify the TRUTH that had been deliberately and systematically altered by the later generations, for reasons NOW known to all. My last thread alone, about Akbar's Kids, took 3 months.!!!!!!.

These threads together (along with comments and updates) stretch into hundreds of pages, spanning over thousands of comments, running into several lacs of views.

Please note that I had to create a series of threads for the following reasons:

a. Collating such extensive information on the sticky would have made it simply impossible to keep track of what I had posted and what your comments and queries were.

b. It would have been a mess for you also to follow so much information all "mixed up" among "other" posts. Many of you yourselves have posted on the sticky about its "Unorganized" nature.

c. So Deep/Extensive is the story of Akbar and MUZ that a single thread would not have been able to do justice to it.

This ' NEW ' rule of restricting history to a sticky is Unique to our Forum, as neither the Maharana Pratap Forum nor any other Old Forum of IF had this rule. And it came as a big blow to me (and to those of you who read these threads eagerly) when this rule was implemented and my threads were locked simply because::

a. Some of our colleagues felt such discussions were "out of place" on the forum and

b. Raised the issue of 'authenticity' of the content written in these threads, and

c. Reported these threads many times, and

d. Insisted that such discussions be carried out ONLY on a sticky.

I found that most of you are also NOT at all happy with this Rule. Many of you have asked me these questions in your PMs::

1. Isn't IF an OPEN Forum that allows us ALL to voice ourselves and conduct cordial and peaceful discussions?

2. Isn't such a rule against every member's Right to Freedom of Speech and the Right to Make Threads to Express Themselves .?. Threads can be closed for "offensive' content, but why restrict such civil, peaceful and cordial threads .?.

All these days, despite my exams, I tried to find answers to these questions and pleaded endlessly for the rule to be scrapped and my threads to be re-opened. I provided all possible evidence to prove the genuineness of my case BUT it was all ignored and my pleas went unheard.

1. I informed that MANY Forum Members had verified my threads to be genuine,

a. As can be seen in their comments::
101823248 98275825 98184054 95489925 94672268 96781232 94500057

b. A couple of Forum members, including a former historian and a silent reader of these threads, posted on my history threads that these threads were also scrutinized by the famous Mughal History researcher / author / enthusiast, Ms. Indu Sundaresan.

c. These threads have been copied even to FB and Twitter.

2. I also mentioned that those who reported my threads could discuss the content with me and provide references to prove me wrong, instead of reporting it continuously, as per standard process.

3. It is also Forum etiquette to accept differing points of view gracefully or ignore threads that one disagrees with, instead of reporting it or asking for discussions to be carried out ONLY on a sticky. Any rule on a Forum must reflect the sentiments of the Majority.

4. Can an Open Forum SUDDENLY create a Rule, which Restricts us from making 'particular' types of threads.?.

Despite several requests and repeated explanations, my threads Remain Locked for NO "specific reason". I now "need' to restrict my history posts/limited time to the sticky, which is a haphazard 'forest' , where it is Very Easy for the Forum members to Get Lost while searching for a simple answer. My only motivation to come to the forum was and remains:: to FREELY share my knowledge with all of you and learn something from you in the process.

I just want to conclude by saying it is a very sad day for JA IF that the Freedom of expression and the Spirit of Healthy and Cordial Discussions for which it was known is now DEAD and BURIED, under the garb of an Unpopular Rule, which is totally IMPRACTICAL and has many LOOPHOLES::

1. The show is about Jodha and Akbar. The first reaction to anything shown in the serial is - "Did this happen in history.?. " Hence, history will Be brought to the Fore, despite any extent of dramatization.

2. If such a rule is applied then ALMOST EVERY Episode Discussion thread on this Forum would be closed because NOT a single thread on the Forum is devoid of such a discussion.

3. Every Historical Show on TV is Dramatized; JA is not an exception. A disclaimer is present in all shows, such as Maharana Pratap. Hence, a clause saying that JA is fiction because it runs with a disclaimer cannot serve as a reason to curb such discussions. The show makers are using Real Names, Real Places, and Real Dynasties from our history. Hence, questions from history will be raised regularly, even on Episode Threads.!. "

So far I have not been able to understand the Rationale Behind such a Rule, as there seems to be NONE. At least, I have Not been given any Satisfactory Reason.

I wish to thank all those friends who stood by me all these days. Hope, this short post answers all the questions asked to me in the PMs.

PS:: Everything mentioned in this post is 100% True, and can be verified easily. As you all know, I state something ONLY when I can back it with Concrete Evidence.

As Rumi says:: Yesterday I was clever. So I wanted to change the world. Today I'm wise. So I'm changing myself.