New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance to Subhash Chandra Bose’s family sounded as sweet to his descendents as the Bengali language. More than that, the gathering of nearly 30 family members at 5, Race Course residence of the Prime Minister, turned out to be a cheerful family reunion before Durga Puja with Netaji’s relatives coming from as far as Holland, the Netherlands, the United States and some from India’s financial capital, Mumbai, and Bose’s hometown Kolkata.
As the bus carrying the relatives hit the main Race Course road, camerapersons and journalists sprinted across to jump on to the vehicle. While a few, including this scribe, succeeded in boarding the bus, others reached Banga Bhawan, the official guest house of the West Bengal government in Chanakyapuri, to speak to the news makers.
Neville Bose, Netaji’s youngest grand nephew who lives in The Hague and has just turned 23, was sitting quietly behind the driver’s seat in the private coach on which the media kept a close watch right from quarter past four till quarter past seven when it left 5, RCR.
Neville’s Mumbai based businessman father Ardhendu Bose, who is the nephew of Netaji, sounded smug after meeting Prime Minister Modi. “It was exactly as we expected. The Prime Minister said that he will do all he can to declassify the files by the time it is Netaji’s birthday next year.”
Neeta Ghosh, Netaji’s niece (daughter of Netaji’s fifth brother), says that she neither believes that Netaji died in a plane crash, nor does she believe the Gumnami Baba stories in the Press about Netaji living in disguise as an ascetic in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Sreela Bose, who is married into the Bose family and is the grand daughter-in-law of Netaji’s elder brother, came from Kolkata with her husband, Arya Bose, and hailed the Prime Minister’s assurance to declassify the 130 files. “As far as we know, there are 130 files. There may be more. It was very gratifying to meet the Prime Minister. He engaged with us in Hindi and we felt very assured when he spelt out clearly during our nearly two hour long meeting that the government has nothing to hide.”
Mrs Bose said, “I will take back very happy memories of the evening. It was a historic moment and a very joyful occasion for all of us to meet, especially since the Durga Puja is just a week away.”
Arya Bose, who is a banker, said that this is the first time in 70 years that a Prime Minister has accepted the challenge of getting to the bottom of the truth behind Netaji’s sudden disappearance. His wife said, “The declassification of the files would serve to unravel the mystery behind Netaji’s disappearance. It is not an issue that concerns just our family. Netaji belonged to the entire nation.”
Asked why no other member of the Bose family became a revolutionary like Netaji, the banker paused and remarked in a lighter vein: ‘‘That is a million dollar question. I would say that nobody inherited his revolutionary streak.” Sreela chipped in, “ Netaji was made of different stuff.”
