She also demanded that the Centre declassify files relating to the nationalist leader who went missing mysteriously 70 years ago.
“There are letters in the files where some people had said that Netaji might have been alive after 1945 (when he reportedly died in a plane crash),” Banerjee, who visited Kolkata Police Museum where the 64 declassified files are kept, told reporters.
“I did not get much time to go through the files. I have seen a bit of it and I have seen letters which were intercepted even after 1945 and documents which indicated that Netaji’s family was snooped upon,” she told the media.
She said it was unfortunate that the mystery regarding his disappearance has remained unresolved for 70 long years. “We do not know what happened (to Netaji). It is unfortunate. How long you can keep it under secrecy ?” she said.
“This (declassification of Netaji files by her government) is the beginning of the future. The people should know the truth. Let the Central government also declassify the files on Netaji.
“Let good sense prevail on all of us. You cannot suppress the truth. Let <g data-gr-id="57">truth</g> come out. It will come out today or tomorrow,” Banerjee said.
Asked to comment on the perception that India’s relations with some countries might be affected if files on Netaji with the Centre were declassified, the chief minister said, “Now we have got independence. There is no harm in honouring those leaders who got us independence. We should salute them. Before declassifying the <g data-gr-id="71">files</g> we have seen that internationally nothing will happen. If we have <g data-gr-id="68">bilateral</g> relation with a country it is necessary to review it.”
On questions whether there was any attempt to hide something, she said, “What you can guess, I can also. Let the country face the reality. There is nothing to hide. Why don’t you (Centre) declassify the files ?”
On whether there might be law and order problem after the declassification, she said, “I don’t think there will be any. It is a mere excuse. If there <g data-gr-id="73">is</g> any law and order problem, we are there to tackle it.” The 64 files containing 12,744 pages were declassified in the presence of his family members who have been demanding that information on Bose, kept confidential till now, should be made public.
The files were displayed in glass cascades in Kolkata Police Museum here and they would be made accessible to the public from Monday, City Police Commissioner Surajit Kar Purakayastha said. Of the 64 files, 55 were with Kolkata Police while another nine were with the state police.
Purakayastha handed over a DVD containing the files in <g data-gr-id="62">digitised</g> format to the family members of Netaji. Welcoming the declassification of the 64 files by the state government, Chandra Bose, Netaji’s grandnephew said, “It is a correct step. Now it is the duty of the central government to declassify 130 files it has with it.”
Chandra Bose said, “By keeping the files (on Netaji) under secrecy for 70 long years, some leaders have committed treachery towards the country. It is the duty of the central government to declassify those files to expose those leaders.”
Another family member of Netaji and a former TMC MP Krishna Bose said that Mamata Banerjee has taken a bold step by declassifying the files. “So far there were gossips, <g data-gr-id="67">now</g> truth will come out.”