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Netaji files: Mamata made us proud, Modi make history now

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Kishwar Desai
Kishwar DesaiSep 19, 2015 | 11:14

Netaji files: Mamata made us proud, Modi make history now

Finally, I have begun to appreciate Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal. Her most recent, but liberating, act proves yet again the benefits of being a maverick. If everything you do appears to go against common wisdom, at some stage you are bound to, through sheer luck and chance, hit upon something that is likely to be absolutely and completely brilliant.

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For a country that has had the battlefield of "history" strewn with the carcasses of convenient half-truths, her single open-sesame gesture heralded a long awaited glimpse of transparency today, from a completely unexpected quarter. (Apologies for the hyperbole, but today was very exciting indeed!) Especially because Ms Banerjee is not someone I ever imagined we would see as an advocate of historical facts. The recent discourse in West Bengal of blind-siding violence against women, and corruption sagas like the Saradha scam had begun to paint the sorry picture of a politician who was willing to hide all kinds of secrets behind that I-am-so-humble hand-spun exterior. The high-pitched rhetoric and flashing eyes might have appealed to the Bengali heart, but for the world outside, her formula for success was that she is wily, fiery, and passionate. And somewhat economical with the truth.

However, today, all accusations have (at least temporarily) crumpled, because she, alone, has had the gumption to open up the classified 64 Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose files, lying with the West Bengal government. The mystery is, why did it require so much courage? Both Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi were born after Independence and they should carry no baggage for the increasingly discredited the Congress party. Indeed they are more than capable of opposing the once-grand old party. But we should hang in there! Everything in life which is worthwhile, takes time.

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So why the fear around these files? Most countries have a rule of secrecy for a fixed term, after which files, even those terribly embarrassing for the nation are opened up to scrutiny. These are then studied by scholars or just ordinary individuals like the rest of us. That is precisely how history moves forward. There is reinterpretation, facts are enhanced, the untruths are weeded out. In that sense these newly-exposed files will add to our knowledge of historical detail, and might also explain why, for so long, there had been a seething debate questioning the death of Netaji in a plane crash in 1945. Considering that this discourse has carried on for 70 years, surely we deserve the truth! This elaborate cover up of events is very intriguing, because commission after commission had examined the issue. Did they do so without access to all the files? If so, the commissions were a complete waste of time!

But now we expect some Modi-Mamata magic... Can the duo please put us out of our misery, and allow us, as adults to decide who killed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose? Or perhaps did not, as the case might be. Mr Modi, you will literally create history by declassifying all historical files with you. The information might send ripples across the globe but the major seismic effect will be in felt India. And we are waiting for it with bated breath!

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Last updated: September 21, 2015 | 11:16
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