Kolkata: Accepting iconic freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s death in a plane crash in Japan on August 18 in 1945 which has still been shrouded in mystery, his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff has once again demanded to the Indian and Japanese governments to ensure the return of his father’s remains to his motherland from Japan.
According to her, Bose had wished to return to a free India but his dream was not met. Describing his father a ‘devout Hindu’ Prof Pfaff also pressed for performing his last rites with his remains according to religious customs.
On Saturday she said, “On this the 73rd anniversary of my father’s passing, I renew my appeal to the Governments of India and Japan to facilitate a transfer of his mortal remains from Japan to India for a final disposal. It was my father’s ambition to return to a free India. This was unfortunately not fulfilled.”
Prof Pfaff mentioned, “Therefore, it would be appropriate if at least his remains touched the soil of Independent India. My father was a devout Hindu. Thus, it is perhaps befitting as per custom to immerse at least part of his remains in the river Ganga.”
The legendary Indian freedom fighter’s daughter elaborated, “The documents giving evidence on how my father tragically perished after a plane crash in Taipei and the transportation of his remains to Tokyo have been published recently in Ashis Ray’s book.”
In her foreword to the book, Laid to Rest: The Controversy over Subhas Chandra Bose’s Death by Ashis Ray, Prof Pfaff wrote the documents contained in the book “agree on the major facts regarding the plane crash and the consequent death of Netaji.”
She even went on record saying “the only consistent story about Netaji’s demise remains his death in a plane crash on 18 August 1945.”
Published by Roli Books the book appears to be the most comprehensive compilation of hard evidence ever presented on the still hotly-debated demise of one of the heroes of the Indian freedom movement.
It pieces together a plethora of first-hand, eye-witness accounts on the plane crash at Taipei that killed Bose, his end in a Japanese military hospital, his cremation and the transfer of his ashes to Japan, where they remain till date. It also chronicles and collates 11 credible probes into Netaji’s death and their conclusions.
