Forward Bloc urges govt. to avoid bringing back Netaji’s ashes

The All India Forward Bloc has urged the government to refrain from bringing back the “so-called” mortal remains of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose kept at the Renkoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan.

Addressing a gathering marking Netaji’s 129^th birth anniversary in Delhi, G. Devarajan, General Secretary of the All India Forward Bloc, also asked the government to formally accept the Mukherjee Commission Report and immediately constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to declassify all remaining files related to Netaji.

The 2005 Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry concluded that Bose did not die in the alleged plane crash in Taihoku, Taiwan, on August 18, 1945. It stated that the ashes at Renkoji Temple in Japan are not his, and that he likely escaped to the Soviet Union.

Contrast to Bose’s daughter

The demand by Forward Bloc, which was founded by Bose in 1939, comes even as his daughter Anita Bose Pfaff has asked all Indians to support the demand for his remains to be brought to India from Japan. Bose’s grand-nephew Chandra Kumar Bose made a similar appeal to President Draupadi Murmu last month.

The Centre has been in a dilemma over bringing back the ashes due to differences within the family members and political parties as well as by a 1998 Calcutta High Court order that prevents the forced transfer of the remains until the government conclusively satisfies itself regarding the genuineness of the ashes.

At the special event in New Delhi on Friday (January 23, 2026), Mr. Devarajan said the Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Manoj Kumar Mukherjee, the last enquiry panel constituted by the Government of India, had categorically concluded that no plane crash occurred at Taihoku Airport in Taiwan on August 18, 1945.

In view of the Commission’s findings, the narrative regarding Netaji’s ashes being preserved at Renkoji Temple is false, baseless, and misleading, he claimed asserting that any attempt to bring such so-called ashes to India would amount to a grave disrespect to Bose and would deeply hurt the sentiments of millions of Indians who hold Netaji in the highest reverence.

Mr. Devarajan further demanded the government immediately constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to declassify all remaining files related to Bose, the Indian National Army (INA), and the Azad Hind Sarkar — the Provisional Government of Free India established by Netaji in exile. He emphasised that full disclosure of historical truth is essential for the national conscience and justice.