Netaji is bigger than Bharat Ratna: Family

While his grand nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Sugato Bose felt Netaji or Gandhi is bigger than Bharat Ratna, another grand nephew Chandra Kumar Bose said Netaji cannot be bracketed with other post Independence leaders or achievers and rather the classified files on him should be brought to the fore to unravel the mystery of his disappearance in 1945 after an air crash. 

"I don’t want to compare him with anybody.The country’s highest civilian award was given to people post independence for their outstanding contributions in various fields. But Netaji fought the final battle with the British for India’s independence. Do you really think Bharat Ratna is suitable for a person of that magnitude,” Chandra Kumar Bose, Netaji’s grandnephew, said. 

He said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about 10-12 days back requesting him to declassify all the secret files on Netaji.

"We also gave a suggestion to Mr Modi to constitute a high-powered Special Investigation Team (SIT), directly under the guidance of a sitting Supreme Court judge to scan those files. The team may have to visit many foreign countries as part of their investigation,” he said.

He said the SIT would comprises members from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the country’s federal investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“We have moved an RTI (Right to Information) and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) replied to it saying they have 33 files on Bose with the office itself but they cannot disclose them. We demand the SIT to start investigation from the point where the Mukherjee Commission had left,” Chandra Kumar Bose said.

He said before coming to power Modi had assured to look into it and so with the ball now in the government's court it remains to be seen what the government does so that other foreign countries could be approached for the files in their possession.

Trinamool Congress MP, Harvard professor and Netaji's grand nephew Sugata Bose told NDTV that anyone with a sense of history will keep Netaji above Bharat Ratna.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari tweeted: "If govt [is] going the historical route on Bharat Ratna's it should also consider the names of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukdev, Lala Laj Pat Rai.. the founders of the INA Rash Behari Bose, Gen Mohan Singh, Annie Besant & AO Hume, Gopal Krishan Gokhle as well as determine whether
the award to Subash Chander Bose who most eminently deserves it is being conferred posthumously. When attempted in 92 led to litigation ? [ there is a mystery surrounding the disappearance of Netaji after an air crash]"

Several media outlets reported that there could be more than one recipient of Bharat Ratna this year and Vajpayee could be awarded while names of freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Madan Mohan Malviya were doing the rounds too.