Netaji's grandnephew asks PM Modi to bring freedom fighter's body back to India | Latest news from India

Kolkata, Aug 17 (PTI) Chandra Kumar Bose, grand-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring the freedom fighter's mortal remains from the Renkoji Temple in Japan to India.

In a letter to the Prime Minister on Saturday, Bose wrote: “On the eve of August 18, the death anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, I once again appeal to you to bring Netaji's mortal remains from Renkoji to India.”

Netaji’s grandnephew said the life of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had passed into the realm of legend.

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“His magnetic personality, brilliant mind, extraordinary courage, selflessness and unwavering commitment to India's freedom have forever made him a hero in the hearts and minds not only of the men and women of India but of all freedom-loving people all over the world,” he said.

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He said that the circumstances of his (Netaji's) death in a plane crash as he left Taiwan in a Japanese military aircraft after Japan's surrender in August 1945 – possibly with plans to cross into the Soviet Union and continue the fight there – were seen by many as just another pretext to escape his enemies.

“Close family members, including his beloved brother Sarat Chandra Bose, in British captivity in South India, and his widow Emilie in Vienna, continued to long for Subhas' return, but none of them at any time knew for sure whether Subhas was still alive after August 18, 1945,” he said.

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According to Netaji's grandnephew, there is no doubt that some people genuinely do not believe that Netaji died in the manner described in numerous contemporary accounts from different sources.

“After all, here was a man who once evaded the British and made an arduous journey from Calcutta through northern India to Afghanistan, and finally reached Berlin by air via Moscow. Only a few years later, in the midst of a raging world war, he survived an even more dangerous journey by submarine from Germany to South East Asia. How could such a man die!” said Bose.

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's government set up a three-member commission of inquiry in 1956 under the chairmanship of INA veteran General Shah Nawaz Khan, Bose said.

“For the first time, detailed information has been recorded in the official report, including from 11 direct witnesses to the crash in Taiwan and of Netaji's death a few hours later. It is noteworthy that there were so many first-hand accounts, from fellow passengers on the plane, Japanese military personnel on the ground beside the runway and Japanese and Taiwanese medical staff in the hospital. Netaji's Indian military aide from the INA, Colonel Habib ur Rahman, who travelled with Netaji and survived the crash and aftermath, was also one of the direct witnesses,” he said.

A government-appointed Khosla Commission report in 1974 confirmed the findings of Shah Nawaz in 1956, which were accepted by the government. The third and final government-appointed Commission of Inquiry by Justice Mukherjee in 2005, which concluded that Netaji did not die in the said air crash, was based on fundamental errors and was therefore rejected by the Indian government, he said.

“It is time that the Government of India, under your able leadership, takes the initiative to declassify Netaji-related files to close the case. After the release of all the files (10 national and international investigations), it is obvious that Netaji perished on August 18, 1945. It is therefore imperative that the Government of India makes a final statement so that the misrepresentations about the liberator of India come to an end,” he said.

Bose said: “Efforts must now be made to repatriate the mortal remains of an immortal hero to his native India, the country he liberated.”