Berlin: Grand nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose yesterday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and raised the issue of declassification of all secret files related to the freedom fighter amid a row over snooping on the leader's close relatives.
Surya Kumar Bose met the Prime Minister after attending a reception hosted in Modi's honour by India's Ambassador to Germany Vijay Gokhale.
Shortly after the meeting was over, Surya said, "Surveillance issues and declassification of files was discussed."
Surya, also the president of the Indo-German Association in Hamburg, was invited by the Indian Embassy to attend the reception for Modi.
He also said that Modi assured him of looking into the matter seriously.
"The Prime Minister said that he will look into it seriously and then make a decision. ...was an honest answer, he at least promised to look into it & try his best to do something about it. I am hopeful," Surya said.
Earlier Surya had said, "Subhas Bose did not belong just to his direct family. He had himself said that the whole country is his family. I do not think it's just the duty of the family to raise this issue (of declassification of Netaji files). It is the duty of the people of India to raise the issue. If I do get an opportunity to meet the Prime Minister, talk to him for a few minutes, then I would certainly raise the issue."
Modi's meeting with Surya comes in the midst of a raging controversy after recently declassified IB revealed that the former PM Jawaharlal Nehru had snooped on Netaji's kin almost for two decades.
Meanwhile, another grand nephew of the charismatic leader, Chandra Bose has said, "The time has now come to declassify Netaji files. Saying it would affect India's relations with other nations is simply a lame excuse. The Modi government has been talking of transparency and now it is the time to provide transparency by releasing those files which will tell us what happened to Netaji during his last years."
Modi is currently in Germany on the second leg of his three-nation tour. He will reach Canadian capital Ottawa on Tuesday on the final leg of his tour.
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