Did Pranab Mukherjee falsify Netaji's wife on how Bose died?

A declassified top secret memorandum written by President Pranab Mukherjee has revealed that as external affairs minister, he falsified Subhas Chandra Bose's wife's views on his death.

The memo is part of the 100 files related to Netaji released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 23.

The memo details a hush-hush trip of Pranab to Germany in 1995, undertaken with a view to exorcise the ghost of the controversy surrounding the disappearance of Netaji.

Pranab describes his October 1995 meeting with Netaji's wife Emilie Schenkl, her daughter Anita Pfaff and son-in-law Dr Martin Pfaff over the contentious issue. The memo shows Pranab making a pitch for bringing about a closure to the controversy surrounding Netaji's death by bringing his "ashes" from Japan to India.

"Netaji's widow and his daughter raised the issue of a suitable memorial for Netaji as well as the question of what to do with Netaji's ashes once they had been brought to India, that is whether the ashes should be immersed in the Ganges or be kept at a place of reverence.

"The entire family expressed happiness over my visit," adds Pranab, further claiming, "I feel that Netaji's widow and daughter are keen that an early solution be found to the issue of return of Netaji's ashes to India."

However, what Pranab has recorded in the official document is completely at variance with what really happened. Almost every member of Netaji's family will tell - with the exception of those having a link to the Congress - that Netaji's widow never ever believed in the air crash theory of his death.

Consequently, she never believed that the ashes in Japan's Renkoji temple were Netaji's as she believed that he was in Soviet Russia after his reported "death". Among others, Raimund Schnabel, a German journalist, had told her that Netaji was in the Soviet Union after 1945.

This writer was told of this fact by several members of Netaji's family, including Chitra Ghosh, Netaji's niece and nephews Subrata Bose and Pradip Bose (both deceased).

For the record, in March 2000, Netaji's Germany-based grand-nephew Surya Kumar Bose submitted a duly sworn affidavit before the Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry asserting his grandaunt's views on the matter.

Surya's version of what really transpired during Pranab's visit, supported by other family members, is as follows:

"On October 20, 1995, auntie rang me after 10.30pm from her daughter Anita Pfaff's home in Augsburg. She was quite agitated. She told me that Mr Pranab Mukherjee was coming to Augsburg on October 21, 1995 to convince her and Anita to give their approval for bringing the so-called 'ashes' of Netaji to India. Mr Mukherjee also wanted her to sign a document which he would take back to India as proof of her approval. She again emphasised to me that she had never believed in the plane crash story and would neither sign any document nor agree in any way to bringing the 'ashes' to India or to anywhere else."

According to Surya, on October 21, "Anita and her husband Dr Martin Pfaff had to take Mr Pranab Mukherjee out for lunch as auntie could not tolerate any discussion on the so-called 'ashes' in her presence. Auntie told Pranab Mukherjee quite clearly that she did not believe that Netaji had died in a plane crash in Taihoku [Taipei] and that those 'ashes' in the Renkoji temple had nothing to do with Subhas".

Surya had to speak with his grand-aunt again when an Indian daily subsequently carried a news item quoting Pranab as saying that Emilie "had given her approval to the government of India's plans for bringing the 'ashes' to India".

Emilie turned livid and accused Pranab of "propagating an untruth for reasons best known to him and the government of India".

According to Surya and other family members, like Netaji's siblings, his wife too never agreed to any plan to bring the ashes kept in a Japanese temple and fob them off on the people of India as Netaji's ashes. There is no document in the declassified files throwing up any sign that Netaji's wife had agreed to the government's position about his death.

For reasons only she can explain, Anita agreed to Pranab's suggestions against the wishes of her family members, excluding those linked to the Congress. After her mother passed away in 1996, she joined the efforts to bring the Renkoji remains to India. These efforts peaked after the Congress returned to power in 2004.

As Indians world over rooted for declassification of the secret files about Netaji, Anita's response, I have the mortification to write, was negative. Everyone wanted to see the veil go off on official secrecy, but Netaji's daughter remained silent. But after it became well-known that the files were going to be declassified, she grudgingly started making half-hearted statements in favour of declassification.

Anita's recent interview to India Today underlines her inexplicable approach towards finding a solution to the vexed issue of Netaji's death.

Asked whether declassification was going to end the controversy surrounding her father's death, she said it won't "because you can present any amount of proof but certain people will not believe it". Later in the interview, she makes this incredible statement with regard to the DNA testing on the Renkoji remains she has claimed for years are her father's.

"Of course, if they are not his remains, it still does not prove that the plane crash did not occur."