Wrong to suppress Netaji’s files for 70 years, Modi told kin

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s nephew Dr D.N. Bose, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday along with other members of the extended family, said Modi told them that “it was wrong to suppress Netaji’s files for 70 years”.

The prime minister also told the family members of Netaji that when he (Modi) came to power at the Centre, some bureaucrats told him that the files could not be released, he said.

“The PM told us when he came to power (at the Centre), he didn’t know about the whole matter. Some bureaucrats told him that the Netaji files could not be declassified and released. But he (Modi) told us that he took the matter upon himself to appoint a committee to look into the matter,” Dr Bose told IANS.

After meeting over 35 members of Netaji’s family at his 7 Race Course Road residence here, Modi tweeted on Wednesday that the process of declassifying files pertaining to Netaji would begin on his birth anniversary on January 23, 2016.

He also tweeted that he would request foreign countries to declassify relevant files, starting with Russia in December.

“I raised with the prime minister the issue of a few files pertaining to Netaji during my Russia visit. But some files were suppressed. So, I told him that the Indian government must write to its Russian counterpart to declassify those files. The prime minister told me he would visit Russia in December and request Kremlin to declassify those files. He also said he would request other foreign countries to declassify files too. Apart from that, Modi spoke highly of Netaji,” Dr Bose said.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s niece Chitra Ghosh termed their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “special one”.

“It was a very good meeting with PM Narendra Modi. He has already given the date for declassification, which is January 23, 2016. He also told us that he’ll request Russia to declassify Netaji’s files in December,” Ghosh told IANS.

“Our demand mainly was the declassification of Netaji’s files and the PM has promised to do it. He also spoke at length about Netaji. He spoke very beautifully,” she added.

There is a long-standing controversy over the reported death of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a plane crash in 1945 in Formosa, now Taiwan.

(IANS)