In stating that she believes Subhas Chandra Bose was alive after 1945, Mamata Banerjee becomes the first head of government to lend her voice to the school of thought that he was not killed in an air crash in Taiwan
Kolkata, Sept 18: Sixty-four secret files relating to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that could help throw light on his mysterious disappearance — an enduring enigma for seven decades — were Friday released by the West Bengal government with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking the Centre to follow suit.
Fulfilling a long-standing demand, Banerjee described as “historic” the declassification of the closely guarded files on one of the country’s foremost nationalist leaders and said people “should know the truth”. The Centre has 130 files.
“I think, like me, the whole world is interested to get to the bottom of this mystery. I have gone through a few pages of these reports and it indicates that Netaji was alive even after August 1945. I have no idea on the contents of the reports available with the Union government. But those reports might disclose many more unknown stories,” Banerjee said soon after the files were declassified.
The CM also claimed she was unaware of these files/reports when she came to power in 2011.
Hidden in police and government lockers for years, the 64 files containing 12,744 pages were declassified here in the presence of Bose’s family members who have been demanding that information on the leader of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army-INA) be made public.
The files displayed in glass cascades at the Kolkata Police Museum 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 digitised format to the family members of Netaji who welcomed its release.
“Today is a historic day. Our government has made all Netaji files public. People have a right to know about the brave son of India,” Banerjee, who visited the police museum, tweeted.
Later, she said, “We made a beginning. 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 truth come out,” she said. “In 70 years, the mystery has not been solved. We did not know what happened. It is unfortunate. How long you can keep it under secrecy. You read the files in details,” the CM added.
Welcoming the declassification of the 64 files, 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.”
Another family member of Netaji and a former TMC MP Krishna Bose said Banerjee has taken a bold step.
“So far there were gossips, now truth will come out. I am happy that the files have been made public”, she said, adding that the Centre should also do so.
Bose’s family members and researchers have repeatedly maintained the secret files lying in Delhi are of significance, as they contain the answer to the key questions on the disappearance of the firebrand leader and the subsequent years.The Prime Minister’s Office in August told the Central Information Commission it cannot declassify files related to Bose as it will adversely affect relations with foreign countries. PTI
