Dibakar Banerjee keen on declassification of Netaji files

Kolkata: Keen to learn more about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bollywood filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee Monday batted for declassification of secret files related to the nationalist leader.

The "Khosla Ka Ghosla" maker was keen to know about Netaji's life but the authorities backed out of declassifying the files as promised, said a statement.

"It is a very puzzling issue...Mystery is mystery but history cannot be mystery," the statement said.

"History cannot be hidden and if my information tells me right, between the PMO and the external affairs ministry there are about 60 to 80 files on Netaji which are classified while they have declassified about ten," Banerjee said in a statement.

"Still large measures of these files are not declassified and I think for a legend like Netaji, his life is heritage of India and it should not be a mystery...," said the director, who was in Kolkata recently.

Recently, a section of Bose's family that has been campaigning for declassification of secret files, sought the intervention of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on the issue.

A large section of the Netaji family, researchers and historians have been seeking declassification of over 100 secret files said to be with various central government departments including the Prime Minister's Office.