Centre should declassify all Netaji files: researcher

Noted Netaji researcher Purabi Roy on Monday demanded that the Centre declassify all the files related to Subhas Chandra Bose in order to lift the veil over the mystery of his disappearance 74 years ago.

The truth about Netaji's disappearance has been shrouded in mystery for several decades and it is high time that the union government take steps to bring it out, Roy told a press conference here.

"We think that the central government should declassify all the files pertaining to Netaji in order to clear the mystery after 74 years. The people of this country have the right to know what happened to one of the greatest son of Mother India. I think the time has come to bring out the truth," she said.

Several reports have claimed that Netaji had on August 18, 1945, boarded a plane from Taihoku Airport in Taiwan, which crashed soon after leading to his death.

However, many continue to believe that Netaji survived the plane crash and lived in hiding.

Since Independence in 1947, the central government had formed three inquiry commissions to unravel the mystery of Netaji's death.

Two of them - the Shah Nawaz Commission (1956) and the Khosla Commission (1970) formed by the Congress governments - said Bose died in the air crash.

The third one, the Mukherjee Commission (1999) set up by the BJP-led NDA government, had said he did not die in it.

In 2015, the West Bengal government had released 64 files pertaining to Netaji held by the state home department.

In 2016, the Narendra Modi government released 100 files regarding Netaji.