Mamata urges Centre to declassify Netaji files
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday paid tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose on his birth anniversary and reiterated her demand that the Centre declassify all remaining documents related to the legendary freedom fighter, while his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff appealed for the repatriation of his mortal remains.
In a post on X, Banerjee said that decades after Bose’s disappearance, public discourse continues around what happened to him after 1945. Calling it a matter of deep sorrow, she noted that the West Bengal government had long ago placed all state-held files on Netaji in the public domain and urged the Government of India to release the remaining records. Describing Bose as an enduring emotion for people across Bengal, India and the world, the chief minister recalled his inclusive vision of the nation.
She said Netaji believed India belonged equally to all communities and regions, and described the Azad Hind Fauj as a symbol of secularism and brotherhood. Banerjee also highlighted steps taken by her government to honour Bose, including restoration of the Alipore Jail cell where he was imprisoned, organisation of exhibitions, and translation of his book Taruner Swapna into several languages.
She referred to the “Taruner Swapna” scheme, under which Class XI students of government schools are provided Rs 10,000 to purchase mobile phones or tablets to support their education. “...When compromise was convenient, he chose sacrifice. To Netaji, freedom was non-negotiable, dignity was non-negotiable, and India’s sovereignty was inviolable. Yet, in our times, we witness a disturbing and deliberate distortion of history. The legacy of our national icons is being erased, Bengal’s cultural inheritance is being demeaned, linguistic diversity is being mocked, constitutional values are being hollowed out, and democracy is being reduced to ritual rather than reality,” the CM wrote.
Meanwhile, Netaji’s daughter Anita appealed to Indians to support the transfer of her father’s ashes from Tokyo, where they are kept at the Renkoji Temple. In a statement issued ahead of Parakram Diwas, she said Bose would have been deeply distressed that his remains continue to lie outside his motherland decades after Independence.
Recounting events of August 1945, she said Bose had set out from Singapore for Tokyo but suffered severe burns in an air crash in Taipei on August 18 and later succumbed to his injuries. He was cremated in Taipei, and his ashes were later taken to Japan. Pfaff, who accepts the air crash account, has earlier made a similar appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the repatriation of her father’s remains.
