(Image source from: Will Netaji's files be made public? Govt forms panel to take call})
The Centre has formed a inter-ministerial panel headed by a cabinet secretary to review the Official Secrets Act in context of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files. The move comes after revelations that the iconic freedom fighter's family was spied on for many years.
The panel will have top officials from RAW, IB, home ministry and PMO.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grandnephew, Surya Bose, in Berlin
and promised to examine the request for declassification of all files related to events since his death or disappearance in Taiwan on August 18, 1945.
The meeting between Modi and Surya, who runs as software business in Hamburg and is president of the Indo-German Association, lasted for over half-an-hour, and is significant in the light of recent disclosures of the Nehru administration's surveillance on Netaji's kin.
Surya is the grandson of Netaji's elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose, and son of Amiya Nath Bose, who too was among those under watch.
"I gave the PM a few points in writing, including the issue of surveillance on the family so that the truth comes out," Surya said. He said he impressed on Modi that India as a nation was strong enough to
face the truth, even if it was unpalatable.
"The declassified information needn't paint a glorious picture of Netaji. It may say something negative. In all probability, it will. We must not shirk from the truth even if it adversely affects Netaji's
image. The family is ready to face it," he said.
- Manohar. M
