Kolkata, Apr 15: Family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose have sought the help of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for declassification of all secret files concerning the iconic leader.
"Netaji belonged to the entire nation, so we extend our appeal to you for your kind support in demanding from the Prime Minister that the Central Government must release in public domain all records to help unravel the mystery about his fate and bring a closure to the issue," read the letter written to Narendra Modi .
Demanding declassification of secret files concerning Netaji's death, Netaji's grand-nephew and family spokesperson Chandra Bose had met Modi during his visit to Kolkata last week.
The letter handed over to him is signed by Netaji's nephew D N Bose on behalf of 24 members of the family.
"We are constrained to bring it to your notice because the Central Government's approach has been rather hostile. The report of the Mukherjee Commission, for instance, was dismissed by the UPA government without assigning any reason in the Action Taken Report tabled in Parliament," the letter said.
It claimed that the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry, set up in 2006, had concluded that Netaji did not die in a plane crash in 1945.
"Modi was very receptive while receiving the letter, and he promised to help," the family said in a statement today, adding, they were constrained to approach the BJP leader after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "completely ignored" their similar appeal made in December, last year.
"The family felt hurt when the Honourable Chief Minister did not even show the basic minimum courtesy to acknowledge the receipt of the letter," said their media statement.
In a disclosure under the RTI appeal made by 'Mission Netaji', a Delhi-based research trust, the Prime Minister's Office had earlier said that it was holding 33 secret files concerning Netaji.
PMO had declined to divulge their contents, saying it could affect India's sovereignty and relation with foreign nations.
