Netaji's family observes Declassification Day on his death anniversary

Kolkata: Scores of admirers of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose today visited Japan's Renkoji Temple to mourn his "death anniversary", but his family in Kolkata has decided to observe "Declassification Day" from this year demanding that all the secret files related to his death be made public. Seeking declassification of all the secret files and documents related to the mystery about the fate of the nationalist leader, who went missing in 1945, the family has started observing August 18 as "Declassification Day" from this year.Netaji's grandnephew Surya Kumar Bose, who has recently visited Renkoji temple where Netaji's purported ashes are kept, said, "His admirers from different parts of Japan pay a visit to the temple each year to pay homage to the leader. But now we have started observing this day as declassification day to put pressure on the government to make public the hidden files on his life," the family spokesperson Chandra Kumar Bose told PTI.To mark the occasion, they held a public meeting in Kolkata where they appealed all political parties to come forward and support the cause.Under house arrest by the Britishers, Netaji had escaped from India in 1941 to seek international support for India's freedom struggle. "If all these files are made public, we would not only know what happened to him after 1945 but it would also add a fresh dimension to India's history as information about his life and times are missing," Bose, Netaji's grandnephew said.Earlier this year, the Bose family wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and even met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seeking their intervention in the matter.