TMC joins MDMK protest demanding release of files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

Chennai, Dec 24: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) joined hands with the MDMK demanding the release of files on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the freedom fighter whose whereabouts were never known since 1945, here on Tuesday.

MDMK chief Vaiko said both the parties would lay siege to the Parliament if the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre did not respond to their demand. Vaiko said BJP leader Rajnath Singh, the current Union Home Minister, had also sought declassification of the Netaji files while in the Opposition but after coming to power, the same BJP was avoiding the responsibility to reveal the details fearing an adverse effect on relations with certain countries.

Vaiko said the true face of the BJP has been exposed by its government's refusal to release the files on the legendary leader. The MDMK chief recalled that over 40,000 people from South Tamil Nadu had joined his Indian National Army. He also said that the leader did not die in a plane crash in Formosa (now Taiwan), as many believe and that the truth could only be known if the documents are declassified.

He said people from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal would stage a protest in the Parliament if the Centre did not fulfil their demand. Vaiko also sought that January 23, the birth date of Netaji, to be declared a national holiday.

TMC leader and West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee regretted that the Centre was unwilling to declassify the documents to reveal the truth about Netaji's final days. He also thanked the MDMK leader for organising the protest.

Chatterjee also attacked the Narendra Modi government at the Centre saying it was dividing people on religious lines after promising people of economic development. He said the TMC would oppose such tactics of communal polarisation.

The TMC has recently been rattled by the twin issues of Saradha chit fund scam and the unearthing of Bangaldeshi terror modules operating from the soil of Bengal.

PTI