Last month, Netaji’s family has approached governments in UK, Japan and Russia, requesting it to declassify document on Netaji.
“We have decided after a review that whatever details we have – about 64 files, will all be put into public domain. It is a big decision. But people are interested so we have decided to release the documents,” Ms Banerjee said. The files will be kept with the police archive.
The move could pit the West Bengal government against the BJP-led NDA government Centre, which following the lead from the previous Congress- led UPA administration, has refused to declassify files relating to Netaji.
Ms Banerjee said she was not going to request the Centre to release the documents but added that she wanted “the truth about Netaji to come out”.
Netaji’s family and even researchers have been campaigning for declassification of secret files on Netaji. The campaigners have claimed that over 100 such files are with the central government and at least 64 files with the Bengal government.
Earlier, in a response to the Central Information Commission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had said declassifying the files related to Netaji will adversely affect relations with foreign countries.
Last month, Netaji’s family once again approached governments in UK, Japan and Russia, requesting it to declassify document on Netaji.
In April this year, declassified files revealed that the Intelligence Bureau kept relatives of Netaji under close surveillance between 1948 and 1968. India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was in power for 16 of those years.
Netaji’s death has been one of the most enduring mysteries in India’s history and has been debated for decades. Netaji’s family has long held that the iconic leader didn’t actually die in a plane crash in 1945. In an interview Netaji’s nephew Ardhendu Bose said that he “was made to disappear” in Siberia “under the powers that be in India at that time.”
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