Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's kin want foreign countries to release files too

KOLKATA: Family members of Subhas Chandra Bose today said the Prime Minister must ask governments of other countries to declassify files in their possession about his disappearance, as they feared that some secret documents that could have solved the mystery might have been destroyed.

"I am not too sure whether the existing files with the central government can reveal everything about what happened to Netaji after he went missing in 1945. The files may have already been destroyed by the past governments," Netaji's grand-nephew Chandra Bose told PTI.

He said that even the Mukherjee Commission had stated that four files had been destroyed during the time of Indira Gandhi.

To connect all the dots relating to his disappearance, he said his family would appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to write to the heads of the countries of Russia, Japan, China, America, UK, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia to declassify all Netaji files lying with them.

"Netaji was in touch with people in all these countries. They all have classified files relating to him. We want to take this movement of declassification to the global level to get all the clues," the Netaji kin said.

The family members said that the issue of global declassification of Netaji files would be on the family's agenda when they meet Modi next month in Delhi.

"Our main focus, however, would be on declassification of all Netaji files held by the government of India. If we do not have our own files declassified, then how can we ask other nations to do it?" Abhijit Ray, Netaji's another grand-nephew, said.

In his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi today said he would host over 50 Bose family members at his residence next month.