Netaji’s remains should be brought back to India for DNA testing: Anita Bose

India

oi-PTI

New
Delhi,
Aug
15:
Netaji
Subhas
Chandra
Bose’s
daughter
Anita
Bose
Pfaff
has
said
time
has
come
to
bring
back
his
remains
to
India
and
suggested
that
DNA
testing
can
provide
answers
to
those
still
having
doubts
about
his
death
on
August
18,
1945.

The
Austrian-born
economist
living
in
Germany
said
DNA
testing
offers
a
chance
to
obtain
scientific
proof
that
the
remains
kept
at
Renkoji
temple
in
Tokyo
are
of
Netaji’s
and
the
Japanese
government
has
agreed
to
such
a
procedure.

In
a
statement,
Pfaff,
the
only
child
of
Netaji,
said
since
her
father
did
not
live
to
experience
the
joy
of
freedom,
it
is
time
that
at
least
his
remains
can
return
to
Indian
soil.

“Modern
technology
now
offers
the
means
for
sophisticated
DNA
testing,
provided
DNA
can
be
extracted
from
the
remains.
To
those
who
still
doubt
that
Netaji
died
on
August
18,
1945,
it
offers
a
chance
to
obtain
scientific
proof
that
the
remains
kept
at
Renkoji
temple
in
Tokyo
are
his,”
she
said.

“The
priest
of
Renkoji
temple
and
the
Japanese
government
agreed
to
such
a
test,
as
the
documents
in
the
annexures
of
the
last
governmental
Indian
investigation
into
Netaji’s
death
(the
Justice
Mukherjee
Commission
of
Inquiry)
show,”
she
said.

“So
let
us
finally
prepare
to
bring
him
home!
Nothing
in
his
life
was
more
important
to
Netaji
than
his
country’s
independence.
There
was
nothing
that
he
longed
for
more
than
living
in
an
India
free
of
foreign
rule!
Since
he
did
not
live
to
experience
the
joy
of
freedom,
it
is
time
that
at
least
his
remains
can
return
to
Indian
soil,”
she
added.

Netaji’s
death
remains
shrouded
in
mystery
though
it
is
widely
believed
that
he
died
in
a
plane
crash
on
August
18,
1945
in
Taiwan.

While
two
commissions
of
inquiry
had
concluded
that
Netaji
had
died
in
a
plane
crash
in
Taipei
on
August
18,
1945,
a
third
probe
panel,
headed
by
Justice
M
K
Mukherjee,
had
contested
it
and
suggested
that
Bose
was
alive
after
that.

“As
Netaji’s
only
child
I
feel
obliged
to
ensure
that
his
dearest
wish,
to
return
to
his
country
in
freedom,
will
at
last
be
fulfilled
in
this
form
and
that
the
appropriate
ceremonies
to
honour
him
will
be
performed,”
Pfaff
said.

In
her
statement,
she
said
75
years
after
India
was
able
to
throw
off
the
shackles
of
colonial
rule,
one
of
the
most
prominent
“heroes”
of
the
independence
struggle,
Bose,
however,
has
not
returned
to
his
motherland
as
yet.

“His
countrymen
and
countrywomen
thanked
him
for
his
dedication
and
his
sacrifice.
They
erected
numerous
physical
and
spiritual
monuments
for
him,
thus
keeping
his
memory
alive
to
this
day,
in
admiration,
in
gratitude
and
even
in
love,”
she
said.

“Another
imposing
monument
has
been
erected
and
is
being
unveiled
in
a
very
prominent
location
in
New
Delhi
by
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
on
August
15,”
she
said.

Pfaff
said
some
men
and
women
in
India,
motivated
by
their
admiration
and
love
for
Netaji,
not
only
remember
him
but
have
continued
to
hope
that
he
had
not
died
on
August
18,
1945.

“But
today
we
have
access
to
the
originally
classified
inquiries
of
1945
and
1946.

They
show
that
Netaji
died
in
a
foreign
country
on
that
day.

Japan
has
provided
a
‘temporary’ home
to
his
remains
at
Renkoji
Temple
in
Tokyo,
cared
for
in
devotion
by
three
generations
of
priests,
and
honoured
by
the
Japanese
people,”
she
said.

Pfaff
also
said
that
“all
Indians,
Pakistanis
and
Bangladeshis,
who
can
now
live
in
freedom,
constitute
Netaji’s
family!
I
salute
you
all
as
my
brothers
and
my
sisters!
And
I
invite
you
to
support
my
efforts
to
bring
Netaji
home!”