Netaji kin confident of getting Russian files declassified

With the Narendra Modi government declassifying a set of secret files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, descendants of the revolutionary leader on Monday exuded confidence about the Russian government too making public similar files claimed to be crucial in unravelling his disappearance.

Netaji family spokesperson Chandra Kumar Bose also described January 23 -- when the Centre made public 100 classified Bose files -- as the day when independent India's first transparent government was established.

"We had a talk with Prime Minister Modi about his visit to Russia. He said that President Vladimir Putin, with whom he personally spoke about the issue, has assured of cooperating with the Indian government.

"So, the process is on and we are hopeful that the Russian files which are very crucial, will be declassified," Chandra Kumar, who on Monday joined the BJP, told IANS here.

Chandra Kumar said the Centre was also in talks with the governments of Japan, Germany and Britain over getting public classified information on Netaji.

"We have also urged Modi to write to the Chinese government because they too have some files on Netaji," said Chandra Kumar, who along with many family members was present when Modi put in public domain the 100 secret Netaji files.

Ascribing to claims that Netaji had faked his death in the alleged plane crash of 1945 and escaped to erstwhile Soviet Union, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has recently been demanding the Modi government to raise the issue with its Russian counterpart to solve the "Russian mystery" surrounding Netaji.

Chandra Kumar, who doesn't subscribe to the air crash theory, claimed that the declassified files contain evidence proving that even Jawaharlal Nehru did not believe Netaji had died in the plane crash.

"There are several documents indicating how successive Congress governments have suppressed facts to ensure the air crash theory is not debunked.

"We have got a 1962 letter in which Nehru had written to Netaji's brother Suresh Chandra Bose, wherein he clearly stated that there was no clinching evidence to establish the air crash but only circumstantial evidence," claimed Bose.

A member of the Shah Nawaz Committee that concluded that Bose had died in the plane crash in Taihoku on August 18, 1945, Suresh Chandra, had declined to sign the final report giving a dissenting note on the findings.