Its been 70 years now and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s death still remains a mystery. A major upheaval has taken place and Mamata Banerjee has finally got her Government to make 64 files dealing with the freedom fighter public. Maybe the mystery shrouding his disappearance will finally be unraveled.
Almost 64 files on the freedom fighter, Subhash Chandra Bose, that were lying at the Calcutta Police Museum , have been digitalized and they will be made available to the public in a 7 DVD set. The original files are at the Museum say the authorities. Researchers and scholars may now get the opportunity to study files consisting of almost 12,744 pages.
A small ceremony was conducted at the museum, and S.K. Purkayastha , the Kolkata Police Commissioner, gave the declassified files to Netaji Subhash Chandra Boses descendants and the media. The decision to declassify the files was announced on Sept 11th by Mamata Banerjee , the Chief Minister of Bengal.
She announced “Still the mystery surrounding Netaji’s disappearance continues to be unsolved. So whatever files we have, we will declassify them which may help in unraveling the mystery….all the 64 files that we have will be open for public. They will be kept at the city police archive.
For last 70 years people have been wondering what happened to Netaji, though his daughter Anita Pfaff , along with few descendants, and veterans Indian National Army are convinced that Netaji died along with his aide Col. Habibur Rahman, on the heavy bomber Mitsubishi Ki-21, at Saigon, on the Aug 17th , 1945. He was supposed to head to Soviet Union to continue his freedom struggle from there but had crashed in Formosa, the Japanese territory.
Netajis ashes were buried at Renkoji temple in Tokyo, and talking about the burial Anita Pfaff felt “It would be the perfect homecoming for him if the ashes are brought to India. His ashes should be immersed in the river Ganges. Sugata Bose, Netajis grand nephew who teaches at Harvard University also agrees with Anitas crash theory and has mentioned it ‘His Majesty’s Opponent’, his book. He deduced the crash theory after speaking to crash survivors and the staff who had cared for Netaji when he was in hospital, and termed the evidence overwhelming.
But there are plenty of others who deny the air crash theory . The debate has been a mystery since years and the Government constituted panels like Shah Nawaz Khan Committee in 1956, GD Khosla Committee in 1970, and the 2006 Justice MK Mukehrjee Commission to investigate the supposition. The 2006 year debate, denied Netajis death in an air crash and this sparked a new interest for the people, in the story.
Praising Mamatas role in the declassification, Subramanian Swamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leader has asked for the declassification of the files at the earliest and has said that he will take the matter to court if the plea is ignored, stating The courage that Mamata Banerjee has shown is commendable and the Central Government should also declassify files related to Bose. This should have been done earlier.
He stated that the declassification in no way would hamper foreign relations. Swamy continued further “There is no Soviet Union now and in England the Labour Party is no more in power so it won’t hamper the foreign relations but it would defame Nehru and the Congress party.All are not happy with Mamata Banerjees action and RK Singh leader of BJP has stated that Mamata Banerjee should have had talks with Ministry of External Affairs or the Centre, before announcing the 64 files to be declassified.
Meanwhile, Abhijit Roy, another descendant of Netaji feels the revelation has returned vigor in the unraveling of the mystery and said “We are happy that the West Bengal Government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have taken a decision release the 64 classified files… We have been demanding this particular declassification issue from 2012.
Clearing the air regarding the role of the Congress, Sandeep Dikshit, Congress leader, claimed All the controversies regarding Netaji’s files are needless and they have been created in a political environment. The files are there with the government and they can declassify them whenever they want,” He also stated that the step is welcome and many unrevealed facts may be exposed after the declassification.
