PMK welcomes West Bengal's decision to release documents on Subhas Chandra Bose

CHENNAI: PMK today welcomed West Bengal government's decision to release documents on freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, but said the Centre had 'more responsibility' in this regard.

Party founder S Ramadoss urged the BJP-led government to declassify similar papers in lines with a poll-time promise.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to release 64 documents about the founder of Indian National Army (INA) on September 18 was a 'welcome announcement,' he said.

Recalling Bose's last days, which remained an 'unsolved mystery,' Ramadoss said there were contradictions about the flight accident that was said to have killed him even as an Indian enquiry commmision stated that 'he did not die of any flight accident,' he said.

There were 'rumors' that Bose lived in Russia or China besides the one that he died in India in 1985 while living as a saint, Ramada's said, adding "his death remains a mystery until now."

"Netaji still has an indisputable place as a revolutionary in the hearts of our youth. It appears as though the Union government is deliberately hiding the information about his last days. A few years ago it was in the news that the Nehru government spied on Netaji's relatives. In these circumstances deliberately hiding documents regarding Netaji will give space for speculations and rumours," he said in a statement.

The documents on Bose to be released by West Bengal will throw some light on his life and disappearance, but may not totally resolve the 'mystery' and therefore only documents with the Centre could bring about clarity, he said.

He wondered why the Centre could not release the documents when West Bengal was prepared to do so.

"In fact Modi's government has got more responsibility to release the documents," he said.

The BJP had made promises in this regard during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had 'assured Bose' relatives early this year to fulfill their demand on releasing documents, Ramadoss said.

However, Ramadoss said the Centre had told an RTI applicant that the documents cannot be released as it "would jeopardize our country's relations with many countries."

This was not acceptable and the Union government should publicise all documents related to the last days of the freedom fighter, he demanded.