‘It’s our independence day, been waiting to hear this for 70 years’

NEW DELHI: On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s word, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s family flew into the capital on Wednesday from across the globe with just one expectation: the declassification of all files related to the leader.The members were invited to 7 RCR for tea. Thirty-four anxious and expectant members of the Bose family boarded the bus from the Bengal government guesthouse in Chanakyapuri to the PM’s residence. As we sat in the bus, every member of the family from the seniormost Sheela Sengupta — daughter of Netaji’s brother Suresh Bose — to the youngest had their stomachs in a knot. What if Modi did not give a concrete promise? What if he, like all the governments since independence, refused to declassify the documents? This may end up as just another photo op.My father Chandra Kumar Bose, the grandson of Sarat Bose and the grand nephew of Netaji, told me he was very nervous and would be unsure how to react if the PM failed to meet the family’s expectation. He said all their effort would be wasted and he would be personally be heart broken. He then popped in a Crocin.As we waited for the PM in the company of home minister Rajnath Singh, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, BJP MP Babul Supriyo and spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh there was a nervous buzz in the air. Some of us were wondering if the PM had cancelled the meeting at the last minute. Was there some other pressing issue? No one had their phones with them and no one knew. We just stood there, waiting, hoping that all turns out well.The PM then walked in, rather discreetly, from the left, coming from behind the podium, and joined the family for the photo shoot. He and the home minister wanted the oldest in the group, Sheela ji, and the youngest, Ujjan Dhar, to be prominent in the frame.Just as the photo session began, the muggy October sky turned red and there was a pleasant breeze. The PM quipped: “With the arrival of the family, the weather, too, has changed for the better.” This cheered us up. There were smiles all around. Core members of the group, representing the different branches of the family, presented their demand for declassification of all top-secret files relating to Netaji and the Bose family.Sailesh Bose’s son and Netaji’s nephew Ardhendu Bose told Modi that it was the PM’s invitation that had made it possible for the entire family to meet. It was for the first time so many of us have come together. The former Bombay Dyeing model also told the PM that the family “is a great force to reckon with” and he should not let their hopes down.Modi suddenly said that his government has nothing to gain from hiding the files. This announcement was immediately greeted with loud applause. Some of the younger ones went “Wooohooo”. Having met Netaji, the eyes of Chitra Ghosh, daughter of Sarat Bose, and Sheela ji — the latter had met Netaji — welled up. They sought a timetable for the declassification and Modi said his colleague Rajnath Singh had also been working on the declassification and that foreign minister Swaraj will coordinate with the countries concerned to get the files.Modi then announced what the family had been waiting to hear for almost 70 years. “All files relating to Netaji will be declassified by the government of India and I will personally write to all the countries which may hold files regarding Netaji,” he said. He added he would first take it up with his Russian counterpart during his visit to Moscow in December. He also confirmed in private to Madhuri Bose, Sarat Bose’s granddaughter, that he would take up the matter with Britain too.We hugged and congratulated each other. Senior members of the family called this their own ‘independence day’. Finally, the family could expect to know soon what exactly happened to one of the fiercest nationalists of the freedom movement. Supriyo belted out Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Sitara’. The first set of the files would come out on Netaji’s bir- th anniversary on January 23.