'Support His Posthumous Return': Netaji's Daughter Renews Call For Return Of Bose's Ashes From Japan

Last Updated:January 23, 2026, 07:18 IST

Anita Bose Pfaff urges India to repatriate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's ashes from Tokyo's Renkoji Temple, seeking a dignified final rite on his 129th birth anniversary.

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (File photo)

As the nation prepares to mark the 129th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on January 23, his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff has renewed her appeal for the repatriation of the ashes preserved at Tokyo’s Renkoji Temple, which she and several family members believe to be Netaji’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 said in a statement issued from her home in Germany.

Pfaff said it would have caused deep anguish to Bose—who spent much of his life in exile while striving for India’s independence—that his remains continue to rest on foreign soil even more than eight decades after his death and nearly eight decades after India attained freedom.

Calling upon those who continue to admire and honour Netaji, Pfaff urged Indians to support what she described as his “posthumous return from exile" and to back the transfer of his ashes to India for a dignified and appropriate final rite.

Reflecting on Netaji’s extraordinary life, she noted that he dedicated years to the freedom struggle and later made the momentous decision to leave India when repeated imprisonment made it impossible for him to continue his work at home. His journey took him to Europe and, in a daring wartime mission, via submarine to Southeast Asia, where he assumed leadership of the Indian National Army. This phase culminated in the establishment of the Provisional Government of Free India during the Second World War and the INA’s armed resistance against British colonial rule.

According to Pfaff, after Japan’s surrender in August 1945, Bose departed Singapore for Tokyo but was involved in a fatal plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945. Although he initially survived the crash with serious burn injuries, he passed away later. He was cremated in Taipei, and his ashes were subsequently transported to Japan, she claimed.

Since then, the ashes have remained under the care of the chief priest at the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, where they are preserved to this day, she added.

News india 'Support His Posthumous Return': Netaji's Daughter Renews Call For Return Of Bose's Ashes From Japan

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