Probe Mitrokhin disclosures: Shourie

Former union minister Arun Shourie today accused the Left of trying to bury the ‘‘explosive’’ disclosures made in the book Mitrokhin Archive II and asked the government to order a ‘‘comprehensive open inquiry’’ into its contents.

Speaking at a function here, Shourie said while the money allegedly received by Communist leaders and government officials in India to peddle information ‘‘is just a small part of it’’, a thorough probe should be conducted to assert the extent of intervention made by the then Soviet Union in India’s internal affairs.

Since the book mentions the way in which India’s Communists helped the KGB, the ‘‘Left parties are resorting to their old technique of smearing the author’s image and pasting motives to try and bury the fact,’’ he said.

Shourie pointed out that many nations had extracted information from the notes, currently with the UK government.