| Did Sugata Bose mislead India on ‘Netaji ashes’? |
Chandra Bose, a grandnephew of Netaji, questions claims by Sugata Bose, another grandnephew, that he brought the leader’s ashes home. |
Kolkata | 23rd May 2015 |
 |  Sugata Bose (L), Chandra Kumar Bose(R). n a short endnote in his bookHis Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire, Harvard University Press, 2011 (see page 368, endnote 33) Sugata Bose noted: "The portion of Netaji's mortal remains kept in the Murti home was brought back to India in March 2006, in consultation with Netaji's daughter Anita, and the Prime Minister of India was informed of this development. The urn preserved in Tokyo's Renko-ji temple has not yet (as of November 2014) been brought back to India." According to Sugata Bose, more than two years later on 18 August 2008, Anand J. Murti, a nephew of Rama Murti submitted a signed affidavit, attested by the Embassy of India in Tokyo, which stated: "According to the Murti family, as an extra precaution, Rama Murti divided up the cremated remains and hid a portion in his home" (see page 367, endnote 11 inHis Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire, 2011). We now know from the Murti family that the so-called "portion of Netaji's mortal remains kept in the Murti home" was handed over to Sugata Bose himself and presumably he brought it back to India and Kolkata with him from Tokyo in March 2006. Why this secrecy on the part of Sugata Bose in connection with what he admittedly believesare a portion of the ashes of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose? Was he under duress from his (until recently) political masters in the Congress Party to bring the so-called ashes of Netaji to India? If he does believe what he brought are the "ashes" of Netaji, did it only deserve a small endnote in his book, which was published five years later? Sugata claims in his book that Netaji's daughter Anita was consulted regarding the transfer of a "portion" of the "ashes" to India. Did Sugata not see the need to consult or at least inform elders of the Bose family who are as concerned with the fate and legacy of Netaji? From where does Sugata Bose draw his legitimacy for presiding over matters concerning the entire Bose family? Sugata Bose has further claimed in the earlier mentioned endnote in his book, His Majesty's Opponent (page 368, endnote 33) that "the Prime Minister of India was informed of this development", i.e. about the transfer of "a portion of the ashes" to India from Tokyo. The Prime Minister's Office denied any knowledge about this matter (see image of RTI reply).  Under the circumstances, the onus of proof clearly lies with Sugata Bose. Did he or his agent inform the Prime Minister of India that he intended to bring or had brought with him to India a portion of the so-called "ashes" of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose? Arguably, Sugata Bose had to inform and obtain the necessary approval of the Indian customs authorities in Tokyo before he could travel with his portion of the "ashes", or did he not bother to do so? Can it be argued that Sugata Bose had the protection of someone in the Congress Party or Government and because of that reason he could act with such impunity? Efforts on the part of the Congress Party to bring the so-called "ashes" of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from the Renkoji temple in Tokyo to India against the strong opposition of members of the Bose family led by Amiya Nath Bose and Subrata Bose (sons of Sarat Chandra Bose), has a long history. In 1995, the then Minister of External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee had travelled to Augsburg, Germany, the home of Anita Pfaff (daughter of Netaji) with a mission. He had wanted Emilie Schenkl (wife of Netaji) to sign a document, giving her consent to bring the so-called "ashes" of Netaji in the Renkoji temple to India. Emilie Schenkl until her death in March 1996 did not believe that Netaji had died in a plane crash in Taiwan on 18 August 1945. She thus "did not accept the so-called ashes in the Renkoji Temple as Netaji's remains", and refused to meet with him (see signed affidavit by Surya Kumar Bose submitted to the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry on 3 December 1999). After the passing of Amiya Nath Bose in January 1996 and Emilie Schenkl in March 1996, there were renewed efforts on the part of Anita Pfaff to bring the so-called "ashes" of Netaji to India. In a letter to the then Prime Minister of India, I.K. Gujral, Anita Pfaff wrote: "...I know that there have been some people in India — including members of my family — who did not wish the Government to take such an action, as, for a variety of reasons, they did not accept the reports of his death following the plane crash at Taihoku as factual. Even these people, who persist in their doubt, should however, be able to accept the transfer of his ashes from Tokyo to India as a token of respect to his memory and a symbol of his sacrifice and martyrdom for India... I therefore request the Government of India to make arrangements to have the reported ashes of my father returned from Tokyo to his homeland, especially to Delhi, which after all was the goal of his INA campaign..." We do not know exactly why Government of India during successive Congress regimes did not proceed to bring the "ashes" in Renkoji temple to India. Perhaps they feared the reaction of the people of India who, both young and old, men and women, even today consider Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose as their hero and leader. Unwilling to act openly and honestly with the people of India, the Congress Party and its allies, including from within the Bose family, are resorting to subterfuge in an attempt to close the chapter on the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. They persist in their attempts to establish the air-crash story, i.e., Netaji died in an air accident in Taiwan on 18 August 1945. By bringing the so-called "ashes" of Netaji to India they hope to finally put an end to the quest for truth about the fate of Netaji. The followers of Netaji will never let this happen. The people of India have a right to know what happened to their Netaji after 18 August 1945 and no power on earth can deny them this right. Chandra Kumar Bose is the grandnephew of Subhas Chandra Bose. Sugata Bose, mentioned in the article is another grandnephew and currently a Trinamool Congress MP |
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