A petition moved before the Supreme Court seeking directions on the remains believed to be those of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose was withdrawn on Thursday after a bench of the apex court said it would prefer to receive a direct application from Netaji’s daughter and sole heir Prof Anita Bose Pfaff.
Ashis Ray, Netaji’s grand-nephew and an author on the freedom fighter, told UNI that he had moved the Supreme Court seeking directions on the remains after years of inaction despite repeated appeals from Netaji’s daughter, and added that she heard the court proceedings and that he would “request Professor Bose Pfaff to favourably consider the Court’s opinion”.
“What prompted me in filing the case was a lack of movement despite Netaji’s daughter and sole heir, my aunt Anita Bose Pfaff, consistently over a long period publicly appealing for a transfer of her father’s remains from Tokyo to India for a final disposal,” Ray, said in an interview to the news agency.
The ashes believed to be those of Bose have long been kept at the Renkoji Temple in Japan. Bose was reported to have died following an air crash in Taipei in 1945, a claim that has remained the subject of decades of debate in India.
Ray said his research for the book led him to conclude that documentary evidence overwhelmingly supports the plane crash account.
“My book is based on overwhelming documentary evidence, unearthed by 11 different multinational investigations, all of which reached the same conclusion — that he died as a result of the plane crash at Taipei on August 28, 1945,” he said.
He said he had filed the petition as his position was consistent with that of Bose’s daughter and heir. “The only view that matters is Anita’s. She is the next of kin. My petition is consistent with her position on the matter,” Ray said.
Several official inquiries have examined the circumstances surrounding Bose’s reported death. Ray noted that earlier investigations backed the plane crash theory.
“The Shah Nawaz Committee and the Justice Khosla Commission reports, supporting Netaji’s death after the crash, were accepted by the Government of India,” he said.
However, the findings of the Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry, which questioned the crash narrative, were rejected by the government.
Ray added that the Indian government has long acknowledged the remains kept in Tokyo.
“The Indian government has paid for the upkeep of Netaji’s remains at Renkoji Temple since around 1950. Indian presidents and prime ministers have visited Renkoji to pay respects to the remains,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Ray issued a statement thanking the Supreme Court for hearing his plea regarding the repatriation of Bose’s remains.
“I am indebted to the Honourable Supreme Court of India for kindly hearing my petition seeking directions to bring Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s mortal remains from Tokyo to India,” he said.
Ray said the court had indicated that it would prefer to receive a direct application on the matter from Bose’s daughter while hearing the petition which was filed by him through senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi.
“I respect the Court’s view that it would prefer to receive a direct application from Netaji’s daughter and sole heir Professor Anita Bose Pfaff on the matter. Accordingly, I will request Professor Bose Pfaff to favourably consider the Court’s opinion,” he said, adding that she attended the hearing via live video.
Earlier two months ago, just before Netaji’s birth anniversary, his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff had also sought the return of the ashes kept at Renkoji temple at Japan, which she and many members of her family believe to be Bose’s mortal remains.
“As Netaji’s daughter I invite the Indians of today who still revere him to support his posthumous return from exile; to support the transfer of his mortal remains to India for a final and fitting disposal,” Pffaf had said in a statement WhatsApped to UNI.
Pfaff said that Netaji, who spent much of his life in forced exile while fighting for India’s freedom, would have been deeply distressed that his remains are still kept outside his motherland more than 80 years after his death and 78 years after India became free.
Three members of the Bose family, including Netaji’s daughter Anita Pfaff, Dwarka Nath Bose, a well-known physicist and son of his elder brother, and Ardhendu Bose, another nephew of Netaji, had in October 2016 and December 2019, requested the government to order a DNA test of the ashes at Renkoji, in a bid to end the controversy. However, this has not been done so far, members of the family said.
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury
