I wonder what would happen if the Netaji Files were ever declassified by the GoI. It is one of the biggest 'Pandora's Box' secrets in the history of Modern India. I suspect a HUGE number of our political holy cows—mostly those belonging to one or two specific dynasties/families—would be left without any hiding holes if the files were made public.
The BJP-led NDA government is still dithering on whether to declassify the files pertaining to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's mysterious disappearance and death, saying the disclosure will have "prejudicial effect on relations with foreign countries".
The PMO has recently shared the list of files documenting the 1953-2000 period. This includes two Top Secret files on correspondences with and about Netaji's widow and daughter (last amended in 1971) and the transfer of his ashes to India (created in 1998) and two other Top Secret files about inquiry reports by the Justice Mukherjee Commission. The other files include two on the Indian National Army's treasure, created in 1956-1957 and 1988, and a file marked Secret containing a 1991 document titled "Bharat Ratna Award – Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Subhas Chandra Bose, JRD Tata, Morarji Desai".
The files that the NDA government is refusing to share also contain papers on acquisition of Netaji's birth place Jankinath Bhavan at Cuttack by the Orissa government and two references from Professor Samar Guha, MP, in 1990-1991 on his disappearance. The government has also refused to share files marked as Unclassified.
The government had not named the nation with which diplomatic relations will be affected and added that "in case it is the United Kingdom, then a much larger public interest is involved in making the revelations". The Central Public Information Officer did not specify the name of the country with which relations would be prejudicially affected. In this case, public interest most certainly outweighs the harm protected, especially when several committees and commissions have been formed by the Union government to probe the mystery.
As my dear friend Sampurna Lahiri correctly said: "Our freedom fighters and national heroes will lose much of their sheen if it is conclusively proven that they were all involved in this massive cover-up about Netaji. When will we ever get to know the truth?"
In this regard, do read this article; it makes for compelling reading (thanks for directing me to the link, Sampurna).
http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/The-Prisoner-of-Yakutsk/2014/12/20/article2579321.ece
The BJP-led NDA government is still dithering on whether to declassify the files pertaining to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's mysterious disappearance and death, saying the disclosure will have "prejudicial effect on relations with foreign countries".
The PMO has recently shared the list of files documenting the 1953-2000 period. This includes two Top Secret files on correspondences with and about Netaji's widow and daughter (last amended in 1971) and the transfer of his ashes to India (created in 1998) and two other Top Secret files about inquiry reports by the Justice Mukherjee Commission. The other files include two on the Indian National Army's treasure, created in 1956-1957 and 1988, and a file marked Secret containing a 1991 document titled "Bharat Ratna Award – Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Subhas Chandra Bose, JRD Tata, Morarji Desai".
The files that the NDA government is refusing to share also contain papers on acquisition of Netaji's birth place Jankinath Bhavan at Cuttack by the Orissa government and two references from Professor Samar Guha, MP, in 1990-1991 on his disappearance. The government has also refused to share files marked as Unclassified.
The government had not named the nation with which diplomatic relations will be affected and added that "in case it is the United Kingdom, then a much larger public interest is involved in making the revelations". The Central Public Information Officer did not specify the name of the country with which relations would be prejudicially affected. In this case, public interest most certainly outweighs the harm protected, especially when several committees and commissions have been formed by the Union government to probe the mystery.
As my dear friend Sampurna Lahiri correctly said: "Our freedom fighters and national heroes will lose much of their sheen if it is conclusively proven that they were all involved in this massive cover-up about Netaji. When will we ever get to know the truth?"
In this regard, do read this article; it makes for compelling reading (thanks for directing me to the link, Sampurna).
http://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/The-Prisoner-of-Yakutsk/2014/12/20/article2579321.ece
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