PM Modi has called it nation's 'responsibility' to declassify Netaji's files: Chandra Bose

Kolkata: The grand nephew of freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose, Chandra Kumar Bose, on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called it the nation's 'responsibility' to declassify the files related to Netaji.

Chandra Bose also said that the Prime Minister, in a meeting with his elder brother Surya Bose in Berlin, had assured that he would personally ensure that Netaji's files are declassified.

"My elder brother Surya Bose had met (Prime Minister) Modiji in Berlin. This was on the 13th of April and he had assured us that he would personally intervene into the matter. Members of the Bose family met the Prime Minister again on the 9th of this month at Kolkata. When I told him that the people of India demand to know what had happened to Subhash Chandra Bose after the 18th of August, 1945, (Prime Minister) Modiji had told me to call it the nation's responsibility and not the nation's demand to disclose the truth," he told ANI here.

Chandra Bose further said that there was a disconnect in the RTI replies that the Bose family had been receiving from the bureaucracy and the political leadership.

"There is a disconnect in the RTI replies that we are getting from the bureaucracy, from the PMO office, from the External Affairs Ministry. So, what we would like to know is whether the bureaucracy is consulting the political leadership because this issue is very serious. It cannot just be handled by the bureaucracy. It is a must that the bureaucracy consults the Prime Minister of India and other senior Cabinet Ministers before arriving at a conclusion. So, we would like the bureaucracy to review the decisions that they have taken and to consult the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues before responding to any RTI reply," said Bose.

"My brother Surya Bose did mention to (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi on the 13th of April at Berlin that the RTI reply that was received from the (former) UPA government and the RTI reply received from the NDA Government did not have much of a difference. The Prime Minister was surprised to note that a similar reply has come from his government also and, therefore, he said that he will personally intervene into the matter. So, it is a request to the Prime Minister of India that he ensures that his government seriously considers the issue because I don't think it is anymore optional for the government. It is the people's demand and the government has been elected by the people of this nation. So, if it is the people's demand then the government must positively respond to the people's demand of declassification of all files pertaining to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose," he added.

Earlier, two recently declassified Information Bureau files had revealed that the Jawaharlal Nehru-led government had order surveillance on Netaji's kin between 1948 and 1968. The files reveal that the IB had resumed British-era surveillance on the two Bose family homes in Calcutta at Woodburn Park and Elgin Road.