KOLKATA: Members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s extended family on Friday demanded that the Central government declassify all the files in its possession and place the truth before the country.
Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose, who had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this issue, said, “There are more secret files with the Centre and the Modi government should make them public. It should reveal the truth before the people of the country who are eager to know the facts.”
“My father, late Amiya Kumar Bose, who was a practising barrister in the Calcutta High Court and son of Sarat Chandra Bose, was also under surveillance by the intelligence branch even in the late 60s. We want to know why and under whose instructions it was done,” he demanded. There are still 130 secret files related to Netaji with the Union Home Ministry. Former Trinamool Congress MP and wife of Netaji’s nephew late Sisir Kumar Bose, Krishna Bose, also said, “More important files are with the Central government and should be made public.”
She narrated an incident about how a special branch officer, after having copied a letter written to Sarat Chandra Bose, filed the original and posted the copy. “The officer then met him and revealed the fact and his mistake which might have cost his job. But he was assured that the copy would be given to him and he returned the original letter,” she said. Such incidents proved that Netaji’s family was being spied upon much later after independence, she added.
Meanwhile, facing heat from all the sides, the Centre reacted cautiously. “Some files were already declassified by the Central government and sent to the National Archive. However, a decision has to be taken on the remaining files whether to declassify them or not. I cannot say when it will be done,” Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters in Delhi. The Congress, which had consistently refused to declassify the files, said the Centre should declassify Netaji papers after “considering all the factors.”