Netaji’s family urges Centre to reveal result of year-long declassification of Government files

Family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose want to know from the NDA Government at the Centre about the result of the one-year-long declassification of secret Government files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This process commenced on January 23, 2016. 

Members of the Bose family, led by Chitra Ghose, Sarat Chandra Bose’s daughter, are expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi before January 23, Netaji’s birth anniversary. “We have always asked for an expert panel to be set up comprising Government officials and historians who will interpret the declassified files and let the country know about its contents”, said Chandra Kumar Bose, grand nephew of Subhas Chandra Bose.

The family also wants to discuss the Government’s plan of action on the Russian archival records on Netaji. Earlier this year, the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had written to the Russian authorities on opening the files pertaining to Bose. It is widely believed that Bose travelled to Russia from Japan in August 1945. The Mukherjee Commission also reported in 2006 that Bose had travelled to Russia or China via Manchuria in 1945.

Another issue which is likely to crop up in the discussions is the INA treasures which are believed to have been looted after the alleged plane crash in Taihoku in 1945. Abhijit Roy, grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose, said, “Hundreds of Indian families living in South East Asia had given their assets including jewellery to the INA for the cause of India’s freedom. It is also believed that Bose was carrying a couple of trunks of jewellery on that air journey but nothing was recovered. What happened to the INA’s assets is something that should be investigated”.

The discussion may also take place on the status of the Justice Mukherjee Commission report which rejects the theory of the crash. The UPA Government had rejected it without discussion before the Parliament but it shall be a point of deliberation if the BJP Government accepts it or rejects it. The majority of family members are for the NDA Government’s acceptance of this report. 

Lastly, the family would like the Centre to declare January 23 as Patriot’s Day in honour of Netaji who sacrificed his whole life for the cause of India’s freedom.