The Manmohan Singh government in 2006 had accepted that ashes in Renkoji Temple in Japan were those of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
It even instructed Indian Ambassador to work out modalities to shift the mortal remains of the freedom fighter to new building of the Indian Embassy there when the temple’s priest indicated that the remains could not be preserved with respect, according to the files on Netaji, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
The points were made in a reply by the Ministry of External Affairs to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who instructed the Ministry to examine the issue of bringing back the remains of Netaji, it showed.
Dr. Singh had asked the MEA to examine the issue after he received a representation on Dec. 7, 2006 from Subrata Bose, then Lok Sabha MP, who said that “countless Indians” were of the firm view that ashes in the Japanese temple were “not those of Netaji” and any decision of the government to take over the remains would be opposed “tooth and nail.”
In its reply, the MEA had said that the government of India accepted that the ashes in the temple were those of Netaji. “The MEA has decided that the remains will be relocated to a new building of the Indian Embassy being built in Tokyo,” the Ministry pointed out.
