Kolkata: The family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose are set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is currently in France on the first leg of his three-nation tour, in Germany. A day after it was revealed that successive Congress governments had snooped on family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose for 20 years after independence, a prominent member of the clan on Saturday said the revolutionary leader’s family would discuss the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
Another family member and MP said the act amounted to showing disrespect to freedom fighters. Family spokesperson Chandra Kumar Bose demanded that the Narendra Modi government declassify the secret files related to Netaji and the clan.
The family members residing in Germany has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue. Sugato Bose, another grand-nephew of the leader and Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member, said a “great wrong” has been done by snooping on the family. “This act amounts to insulting the freedom fighters. But I only hope nobody now tries to do politics over the issue.”
Chandra Kumar Bose said while it was understandable that the British government would snoop on the family because of its fight against imperialism, “that the central government in post-independence India could do it, that is too shocking”. It is an attack on democracy, personal liberty and the spirit of the freedom movement, a betrayal of the nation,” he said.
A judicial inquiry commission should be constituted, and a special investigative team should be formed under the commission. The commission should report to a sitting judge of the Supreme Court,” he said. He said the probe should cover the entire sequence of events from circumstances leading to Netaji’s disappearance to the spying on the family members after independence.
He said the Modi government has been talking of transparency all along. “If they are sincere to what they claim, then they should order declassification of over 160 files still kept secret. Media reports have claimed that recently declassified files of the union home ministry have revealed that the family of Netaji was placed under intensive surveillance from 1948 to 1968 by the central government.
The country had three Congress prime ministers during these 20 years – Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply