Arun Jaitley tweets on Netaji's 'death anniversary', deletes tweet after family outburst
Paying his tributes to the Netaji, Arun Jaitley tweeted, 'Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an icon of exemplary valour and sacrifice. We remember and pay him our respectful tribute on his death anniversary.'
In Short
- Netaji's family raised objection to Arun Jaitley's tweet
- Jaitley paid his tributes to the leader on his death anniversary
- Family says mystery about his death is still being unravelled
The family members of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose have raised serious objection to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for terming August 18 as Netaji's "death anniversary".
On Thursday, while paying his tributes to the leader, he tweeted, "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an icon of exemplary valour and sacrifice. We remember and pay him our respectful tribute on his death anniversary."
Soon, Netaji's family members expressed their shock at the senior minister's comment. Expressing her "outrage" Netaji's niece Prof Chitra Bose said the family was "shocked beyond words".
'MYSTERY STILL BEING UNRAVELLED'
"The mystery is still being unravelled with the secret files coming out now. So how can he be so sure?" questioned Netaji's nephew Dr DN Bose adding that he feels Arun Jaitley had been misinformed.
Netaji's grand nephew Chandra Bose who was fielded by the BJP against Mamata Banerjee in the recent state assembly elections said, "the family does not accept August 18 as Netaji's death anniversary. We demand that such a statement be withdrawn and a regret be offered stating that it was a mistake."
"In the last commission of enquiry constituted by the Government of India, the Justice Mukherjee commission clearly stated that there was no air crash on August 18, 1945. So it is not correct to state this date as the death anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose," he added.
TWEET DELETED
Following the outrage expressed by Netaji's family members and activists on Twitter, Jaitley's tweet was subsequently deleted. However, there was no clarification given on whether it was a genuine faux pas.
For several years, members of the Bose family have been campaigning for complete declassification of all classified files relating to Netaji in order to unravel the mystery behind his disappearance in 1945.
Responding to the families plea, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the declassification of secret Bose files. The first tranche of declassified files were released at the National Archives in New Delhi in February.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who took a lead by releasing the files under the possession of West Bengal government in September 2015 lashed out at Jaitley.
"Today is Raksha Bandhan I don't want to hurt anybody. But shocked with @arunjaitley Ji hurtful tweet this morning on Netaji. We're all hurt," she tweeted.
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