Prime Minister Narendra Modi on late Monday night met Surya Bose, the grandnephew of the great freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose here and have discussed the surveillance issues and declassification of Netaji’s all secret files amid a row over snooping on the leader’s close relatives.
Shortly after the meeting was over, while speaking to news agency ANI, Surya Bose said, “Surveillance issues and declassification of files was discussed.”
He further said that PM Modi has assured him of looking into the matter seriously. “PM said he will look into it seriously and then make a decision,” added Bose.
Reacting to PM’s assurance, Bose said, “Was an honest answer, he at least promised to look into it & try his best to do something about it. I am hopeful.”
“PM said he will try his best to open the files up as he hasn’t seen the files himself and can’t judge the content,” he added.
On being asked about having any clue about the matter inside the files, Surya Bose said, “Don’t know whats in the files, there may be no substance or be worse, or disappointing. Have to wait for files to get declassified.”
He further hit out at the last UPA government and said, “Manmohan Singh Govt didn’t do anything for other reasons. People of India want the truth come out, movt has caught huge momentum & we should act so that Govt does something about it.”
Surya Bose met PM Modi today after attending a reception hosted in PM’s honour by India’s Ambassador to Germany Vijay Gokhale.
Meanwhile, another grandnephew and the official spokesperson of Netaji’s family, Chandra Bose said, “Modi ji assured Bose family that he’ll see to it that proper scrutiny is carried out. PM said his Govt believes in truth, Surya Bose is very happy with the meeting.”
“The momentum that has built up, everyone is asking for transparency,” he added.
Chandra Bose had earlier 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.”
The Prime Minister arrived here earlier after a successful trip to Hannover. Prior to his departure from Hannover, Prime Minister Modi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement at the Hannover Messe industrial fair’s India pavilion.
Prime Minister 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.
PM Modi’s meeting with Surya Bose comes in the midst of a raging controversy after recently declassified Intelligence Bureau documents revealed that the former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had spied on the family of Bose for two decades from 1948 to 1968 both in India and abroad.
Surya had yesterday 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,” he had said.
Surya, also the president of the Indo-German Association in Hamburg, was invited by the Indian Embassy to attend the reception for Modi.
In an RTI reply, the Prime Minister’s Office has refused to declassify secret files relating to Netaji arguing that the “disclosure would prejudicially affect relations with foreign countries.”
