All Netaji files should be declassified: Congress

The files will help shed more light on Netaji's disappearance, the party said

Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday said the NDA Government must declassify all files pertaining to freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to help shed more light on his disappearance.

"Since the government has decided to declassify files pertaining to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, one would expect that the files are declassified in their entirety. There is nothing which the government should keep for posterity. All the papers, which are available with the government, must be put out in the public domain in their complete and true form and nothing should be redacted or subtracted from it," Tewari said.

"And, if eventually, once the papers are there, it would probably help shed more light on what really happened in those fateful hours which led to Netaji's unfortunate death or disappearance," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has said that it will declassify some of the secret files on Netaji on January 23, the birth anniversary of the legendary freedom fighter.

The Prime Minister had in October 14 last year promised to declassify Netaji files when he met the members of Bose's family at his official residence.

"The process of declassification of files relating to Netaji will begin on January 23, 2016, Subhas Babu's birth anniversary," he had tweeted after an hour-long interaction with the family members.

Tewari also emphasized that one must respect the viewpoint of Netaji's daughter, Anita Bose Pfaff, who is possibly in the best position to appreciate all the information that is available with her.

"If she has a point of view, (then) that point of view should be respected," he said.

Seventy three-year-old Anita is annoyed that instead of accepting evidence, many continue to be obsessed with 'asinine' theories that Netaji survived the plane crash in Taipei in 1945 and lived in the mountains as "Gumnami Baba".

Based on available evidence, she is convinced that he died in the crash on August 18, 1945, and has proposed a DNA test on his remains kept at the Renkoji Temple in Japan to put the row to rest.

The demand for the declassification of secret files with the Centre has gathered momentum, especially after the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal had declassified 64 files that were in its possession.