KOLKATA: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose‘s daughter Anita Bose Pfaff has urged the Indian government to bring home Netaji’s ashes from Renkoji temple in Japan and start observing his death anniversary on August 18, the day Bose is believed to have died in a plane crash at Taipei in 1945. In a statement issued from Stadtbergen, Germany, Bose Pfaff pointed out that “on August 18, we mourn the 79th death anniversary of one of India’s foremost architects of independence, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.”
“On August 18, 1945, he left us forever, following a plane crash in Taipei – without being able to return to his beloved home country.For 79 years, Japan, especially three generations of head priests of Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, have provided a home for his mortal remains – in exile. Thankfully after all these years many of his countrymen and countrywomen remember him even today, not only with gratitude, but even affectionately. It is time that the remains of one of India’s greatest heroes of the freedom struggle can be welcomed home by them,” wrote Bose Pfaff.
Her statement confirms the Bose family’s acceptance that Netaji had indeed perished in the plane crash that had been vehemently contested by many, including a large section of the Bose family.
Bose’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose has repeatedly appealed to the central government to bring his ashes back. On the eve of Independence Day, Bose wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an appeal to bring his mortal remains back.
“Even though there had been genuine disbelief among some that Netaji had perished in the manner described in a host of contemporary accounts from multiple sources…After the release of all the files, it is evident that Netaji perished on August 18, 1945. It is, therefore, imperative that a final statement is made from the government of India so that false narratives about the Liberator of India are laid to rest,” Bose said in his letter.
Bose added that efforts must now be made to “bring the mortal remains of an immortal hero to his home country India, the land he liberated.”
Chandra Bose added that the circumstances of Netaji’s death had been perceived by many, including his family members, as a ruse to escape the British and perhaps enter Russia to continue the freedom struggle.
“Like everyone else, his wife Emilie Schenkle and family members yearned for his return. But post-1945, there was no definite knowledge of Subhas being alive,” said Bose.
The government of India had set up three enquiry commissions to probe Netaji’s disappearance, the first being the Khosla Commission in 1956. It was followed by the Shah Nawaz Commission, the findings of which were accepted by the government.
The last one was the Mukherjee Commission in 2005 which claimed that Netaji had not perished in an air crash and its report was rejected by the government on the ground that it was based on fundamental errors.
“On August 18, 1945, he left us forever, following a plane crash in Taipei – without being able to return to his beloved home country.For 79 years, Japan, especially three generations of head priests of Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, have provided a home for his mortal remains – in exile. Thankfully after all these years many of his countrymen and countrywomen remember him even today, not only with gratitude, but even affectionately. It is time that the remains of one of India’s greatest heroes of the freedom struggle can be welcomed home by them,” wrote Bose Pfaff.
Her statement confirms the Bose family’s acceptance that Netaji had indeed perished in the plane crash that had been vehemently contested by many, including a large section of the Bose family.
Bose’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose has repeatedly appealed to the central government to bring his ashes back. On the eve of Independence Day, Bose wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an appeal to bring his mortal remains back.
“Even though there had been genuine disbelief among some that Netaji had perished in the manner described in a host of contemporary accounts from multiple sources…After the release of all the files, it is evident that Netaji perished on August 18, 1945. It is, therefore, imperative that a final statement is made from the government of India so that false narratives about the Liberator of India are laid to rest,” Bose said in his letter.
Bose added that efforts must now be made to “bring the mortal remains of an immortal hero to his home country India, the land he liberated.”
Chandra Bose added that the circumstances of Netaji’s death had been perceived by many, including his family members, as a ruse to escape the British and perhaps enter Russia to continue the freedom struggle.
“Like everyone else, his wife Emilie Schenkle and family members yearned for his return. But post-1945, there was no definite knowledge of Subhas being alive,” said Bose.
The government of India had set up three enquiry commissions to probe Netaji’s disappearance, the first being the Khosla Commission in 1956. It was followed by the Shah Nawaz Commission, the findings of which were accepted by the government.
The last one was the Mukherjee Commission in 2005 which claimed that Netaji had not perished in an air crash and its report was rejected by the government on the ground that it was based on fundamental errors.