The Narendra Modi government will begin declassification of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files in the possession of the Centre from January 23, 2016, the birth anniversary of the freedom fighter.
The Prime Minister made the announcement after meeting members of the Bose family at his residence here on Wednesday.
“Process of declassification of files relating to Netaji will begin on 23rd January, 2016, Subhas Bose’s birth anniversary,” Mr. Modi tweeted.
“We also request foreign countries to declassify files on Netaji available with them. Shall begin this with Russia in December.”
Before this, he had an hour-long interaction with the Bose family members, who requested the Prime Minister to declassify the files available with the Centre and ask other countries having such files to do so.
A gesture With this announcement, the government has sought to make a gesture to West Bengal, where the prominent freedom fighter has an iconic status.
The BJP has traditionally been weak in the State, and the gesture is an attempt at generating some goodwill there. The State goes to the polls in 2016 itself.
“The Bose family and the nation are happy as the Prime Minister has given the country a Navratri gift with the announcement. This is our real Independence Day, as the files of India’s great nationalist that had been kept secret by successive governments will now be released,” Bose’s grandnephew Chandra Bose told The Hindu .
Asked whether this gesture would generate some goodwill for the BJP in West Bengal, Mr. Bose said: “I am not looking at this issue politically. But what is the harm if someone does good work and then claims mileage?”
“During the hour-long interaction, the family members requested for declassification of the files relating to Netaji, available with the Government of India. They suggested that the government initiate the process to get the files on Netaji declassified,” said a Press Information Bureau release.
“The Prime Minister said he finds the suggestions of the family members of Netaji to be similar to his own thinking and the view of the Union Government. He said he sees no reason to strangle history.”
“During the hour-long interaction, the family members requested for declassification of the files relating to Netaji, available with the Government of India. They suggested that the government initiate the process to get the files on Netaji declassified,” said a Press Information Bureau release. “The Prime Minister said he finds the suggestions of the family members of Netaji to be similar to his own thinking and the view of the Union Government. He said he sees no reason to strangle history.”
Adding personal touch to the interaction, the Prime Minister asked the visitors to consider him part of their family. He added that he would not only write to foreign governments to declassify the Bose files but also take up the matter personally on his trips to these nations. “The Prime Minister said those nations who forget history lose the power to create it,” the release said, in what could be construed as an oblique comment on the Congress governments’ failure to declassify the files.
A month ago, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee had scored a political point, declassifying the Netaji files in the State government’s custody.
From The Hindu archives
>Mr. Subhas Bose missing from his residence, search by relatives and friends
"He was much depressed that, at such a critical juncture, the Congress leadership had failed the country."
>Whereabouts of Mr. Subhas Bose
“It has been common talk in certain quarters in this country for some time that Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose is either in Rome or in Berlin and has entered into a pact with the Axis powers"
>Mr. Subhas Bose reported killed in air crash
A Bangkok dispatch to the German News Agency says that two leaders of the Indian community in Siam were killed in an aeroplane crash off Japan.
>'Brave son of India' - Congress leaders' tributes
"The tragic end of Subhas, while he was still in the prime of life, will cause deep sorrow to all those who knew him."
>Mr. Subhas Bose not involved in air accident
The German Official News Agency, while announcing the aeroplane crash, did not list Mr. Bose among the victims
>Netaji meets Hitler
The Berlin Radio was announcing that Hitler had received Subhas Chandra Bose at his headquarters.
>Bose dead, fatally wounded in air crash: Japanese report
An Agency said that Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose died in a Japanese hospital from injuries received in an air crash.
>Subhas Bose's last days
Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose was being brought to Tokyo as the first step in his transfer to Manchuria where he was expected to seek safety and protection from the Russians
>Pandit Nehru's views on Subhas Bose
'Japanese report that Bose was killed in a plane crash is not believed in British and American military circles'
