Netaji's great grand nephew dubs surveillance a 'national issue'

The great grand nephew of one of India's eminent freedom fighters and Congress leader Subhash Chandra Bose, Sugata Bose, on Sunday said that he wanted to raise the issue of surveillance and declassification of files related to Netaji in the Parliament and called it a 'national' issue.

Bose said that he was seeking permission from Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to bring up this issue in the Parliament.

"I have spoken to the Speaker to raise the issue in the Parliament," Bose said.

"Keeping the family under surveillance for 20 years was very bad. My father, Shishir Kumar Bose, wrote letters to Netaji's wife, they even kept those under surveillance. Even the letters Netaji's wife wrote back were sent to the intelligence," he added.

Netaji's great grand nephew further said that this was extremely bad for the Republic of India.

Array

Array

"But I think this is not only a family issue, but a historic and national issue as well. This should be put above political controversies," he added.

Earlier, two declassified Intelligence Bureau files had revealed that former prime minister 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.