"Want Closure": Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Daughter, 82, To PM Modi On His Remains In Japan

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's daughter, Anita Bose Pfaff, has made a fresh appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help bring her father's remains to India during his trip to Japan.

It is widely believed that the remains of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, who died in a Japanese military aircraft crash in present-day Taiwan on August 18, 1945, are held in an urn in a Buddhist temple in Renkoji in Japan. Multiple national and international enquiries probing his disappearance have confirmed his death at a hospital in the Japanese military airfield in Taihoku, now Taiwan, as a result of the severe burn injuries he suffered in the crash.

Ms Pfaff, the only child of Netaji, spoke to NDTV on Thursday and said she would request PM Modi to bring back the remains of her father if she gets the opportunity to talk to him personally.

"I certainly would request him to take up the idea which the Narasimha Rao government did... They tried to bring back the remains of my father to India," the Austrian-born economist, who is currently living in Germany, said.

"The reason why I also feel this gets a bit more urgent for me personally is my own age," the 82-year-old said.

She said she wants to "have closure" on this issue.

"Even my first son told me, 'Please get this done'. I don't want to inherit this problem," Ms Pfaff said.

She said the "problem is not her alone" as her father was also a public figure.

"It's not only a private matter of me going to the Renkoji Temple and asking them, please hand me over the remains of my father, I will take them to India in my hand luggage," she said.

She also said that Japan has always treated Netaji with "great respect".

PM Modi landed in Tokyo on Friday morning for a two-day visit during which he will hold summit talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba.

In his departure statement, he said his visit would be an opportunity to strengthen civilisational bonds and cultural ties between the two countries.

From Japan, he will travel to China on a two-day visit to attend the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tianjin on August 31 and September 1.

"I am confident that my visits to Japan and China would further our national interests and priorities, and contribute to building fruitful cooperation in advancing regional and global peace, security, and sustainable development," he said.