Netaji snooping row: Nephews happy with formation of government committee

The nephew of Subhas Chandra Bose, Ardhendu Bose, said he is obliged to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a high level committe has been formed for declassification of all documents related to Netaji, including the information that former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had ordered a surveillance of Netaji's family for twenty years till 1968.

According to sources, the newly formed committee is to be headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth.

The government sources further confirmed that The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), IB, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Prime Minister's Office (PMO) officials would be included in the panel.

"It is fantastic news. We are very obliged to the Prime Minister. We understand that it will take time, but glad that the process has been initiated," Ardhendu Bose, nephew of Netaji, told ANI.

Chandra Bose, the grand nephew of Bose, said, "When my elder brother Surya Bose met the Prime Minister there were signs that he would be taking this matter seriously. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that he would intervene in this matter personally and bring out the truth."

"We did not expect that such fast actions would be taken as we were not expecting the Prime Minister could find time while being abroad and busy," he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Subhash Chandra Bose's grand nephew Surya Bose met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin and said the Prime Minister had assured him to look into the surveillance issue and the declassification of files.

Bose also stressed that the files may not contain much of substance, but it might be possible that something much worse than the surveillance might come out of it.

"That is a difficult thing to guess because you don't know what's in those files. There may be nothing much of substance in there, but again something much worse than the surveillance might come out of it. On the other hand, there may be some disappointing news about our great leader. So, you don't know. It's a guess-work we can do," Bose said.

"We have to wait till these files are declassified and I requested him that he should declassify all the files and he at least said he will do his best," Bose added.

Bose also asserted that the former Manmohan Singh-led government did not do it because they probably felt that it may bring out a lot of bad news for the Nehru dynasty.

Earlier, two recently declassified IB files had revealed that the 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.