On Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s 128th birth anniversary, his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff called on the government to take steps to bring back his mortal remains which, she claimed, have been kept at a “temporary” home in Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan.
She said we must accept that Netaji had died following an airplane crash on take-off in Taipei, Taiwan.
“Many Indians still remember and honour the heroes of India’s independence struggle. Many freedom fighters had to flee their country during the colonial rule to avoid persecution and to continue the struggle from abroad. Many of them never returned to their motherland. Their remains remained in foreign lands. Netaji’s remains, too, were given a ‘temporary’ home in Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan,” Anita Bose said in a press statement.
She pointed out that for decades most of the Indian governments hesitated or refused to bring back Netaji's mortal remains even though the priests of Renkoji Temple and the Japanese government were ready and eager to let his remains return to his motherland.
“Initially there may have been good reasons for the Indian government’s reluctance to take this step,” she said, noting that many people, including members of his own family, hoped that he had not died on August 18, 1945 and that he had been able to escape persecution and death once again.
However, she said, most of the documents pertaining to Netaji’s death—including 11 reports on investigations of the event—have become available to the public. "Therefore we must accept that he died on that day, following an airplane crash on take-off in Taipei, Taiwan.”
“Do not keep Netaji exiled any longer! Allow him to return home. Many compatriots still remember him, honour him and love him even to this day,” she further said.
I’m more interested in my father’s life and work than his death: Anita Bose
Anita Bose had for long maintained that the air-crash theory was a logical conclusion of the mystery surrounding her father’s death. She had also written to the prime minister demanding a DNA test to ascertain whether the remains were of Netaji or not.
“When his death was officially declared on August 23, 1945, there were British and American investigations immediately. For the British he was a great problem. If the British had executed him, my father would have gained martyrdom and that would have had serious repercussions in India. However, those investigations were kept a secret and so people found the crash theory non-convincing,” she had said in an interview to THE WEEK in 2022.
