Netaji kin urge PM to set up timeframe to declassify files

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted before on Netaji death mystery issue, Netaji first set of secret files are going to be out on tomorrow, on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the legendary freedom fighter. Modi and his ministerial colleagues went around glancing at the declassified files, spending over half an hour at the National Archives.

Also present at the ceremony were members of the Bose family and Union Ministers Mahesh Sharma and Babul Supriyo when the files were opened for public viewing.

11 am: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said people who “had no role in the freedom struggle” just wanted the files in the public domain to create trouble, ANI reported, but he added that they must be declassified.

What can we expect in the classified Netaji files held by the government?

Two government commissions of inquiry launched after his disappearance concluded that Bose had died in a plane crash in Taipei, Taiwan in August 1945 – findings rejected by members of his family.

Describing Netaji as a pragmatic and radical leader, who was not only seeking Independence from the British but also had a vision to change society, Sen said it was “unfortunately not realised”.

While some of his immediate family members, including his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff, have maintained that Netaji indeed died in the crash, others, including his grandnephew, feel that he remained alive in incognito for years after the plane disaster.

After the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal recently declassified 64 files related to Netaji, the Centre has found itself under pressure to do the same with the 41 files in its possession.

CNN-IBN has accessed a letter from Nehru which said there was no question of seeking information if Netaji was on list of war criminals. A few more files were also transferred from the PMO. This will meet the long-standing public demand to access these files; it will also facilitate scholars to carry out further research on Netaji.

Similarly, many functions were held in the city and elsewhere in Odisha to observe Netaji Jayanti by holding padayatras, cycle rallies, art exhibitions, blood donation camps and several competitions and cultural programmes among school and college students.