Family welcomes panel to consider declassifying Netaji files

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's descendants on Wednesday hailed the central government's decision to set up a high-level panel to decide on declassifying secret files on the nationalist leader.

"It's a great decision by the central government. We are now very confident that our long time fight to get the secret documents classified will eventually fructify," Netaji's grand nephew, Chandra Kumar Bose, told IANS.

Chandra Kumar said he has been officially intimated about the formation of the inter-ministerial committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth.

The development comes two days after another of Netaji's grand nephews, Surya Kumar Bose, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Berlin amid the raging controversy concerning alleged snooping on family members of the revolutionary leader by successive Congress governments.

"Prime Minister Modi has proved that he is man of words. Just two days after he assured Surya Bose, he made sure his words were transformed into action," said Chandra Kumar, Surya Kumar's brother.

On Tuesday a section of the Bose family and Netaji enthusiasts took out a rally in the city condemning the alleged snooping and demanding a judicial probe.

Attended by 100 odd people, the rally also demanded declassification of about 64 files said to be with the West Bengal government and over 100 files with the various central government departments, including the Prime Minister's Office.

Under the banner of 'Open Platform', a host of Bose family members, researchers and historians and organisations have been campaigning for the declassification of the secret files.

A public interest litigation is also pending before the Calcutta High Court, seeking a judicial review on whether the documents should remain secret in public interest.