SHILLONG, June 29 - The All India Legal Aid Forum (AILAF) has placed before the Central Government seven demands to uncover the mystery surrounding Netaji Subhas Chandra�s death, including declassifying the remaining 42 files.
AILAF general secretary, Joydeep Mukherjee said today that the NDA Government has declassified some files relating to the mysterious death of the freedom fighter, but not all.
There have been conflicting reports about the death of Netaji. The most widespread report is about the death of Netaji in a plane crash in 1945 at Taiwan.
However, there are also other reports that suggest that Netaji died at a Jail in Russia. It is believed that he was captured by the Allied forces and sent to jail in Siberia and he died at Oms.
There were several Commissions set up over the years by the Centre, but none have come up with concrete evidence to unravel the mystery.
�The AILAF therefore demands that the Centre declassify top secret files regarding Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as early as possible,� Mukhrejee said.
The other demands include, New Delhi sending letter to the Russian Government for disclosing Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) files regarding the alleged death of Netaji in Siberia Jail in Oms City.
�The contribution of Netaji in the freedom struggle of India should be properly published in school and college syllabus,� he said.
AILAF has also demanded that the Central Government declare 23rd January, Netaji�s birthday as a National Holiday. It also demanded that the Central Government must come out with the truth about the property and money of Azad Hind Fauz that Netaji raised to fight the British.
According to the forum, the Azad Hind Fauz or Indian National Army had property and money to the tune of Rs 2 crore at that time. But, nothing is known about these assets so far.
�The Central Government must declassify the book, �History of INA and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose written by historian Pratul Gupta. The book has been classified by Jawaharlal Nehru and is held at the Defence Academy of the Central Government as a classified document,� Mukherjee said.
The forum further demanded that a bronze statue of Netaji be installed in front of Red Fort (Lal Quilla) and also a memento in the memory of INA.
Apart from these demands on Netaji, the forum has also demanded that the Central Government set up Judicial Commissions to probe into the mysterious deaths of Jana Sangha founder, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and late Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. �We strongly demand to the present Central Government to enquire and disclose the real truth behind the mysterious deaths of these three National heroes,� Mukherjee stated.
