Netaji's ashes - the debate continues

There was enormous interest, especially among scribes from West Bengal accompanying the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whether the Indian delegation would raise the demand of bringing the ashes that some believe to be of INA leader and freedom fighter Subas Chandra Bose to India. The ashes of Netaji, who was believed to have been killed in a plane crash nearly 63 years ago, are still kept in the famed Renkoji temple here.

But foreign ministry officials immediately pointed out there was no question of raising the issue with the Japanese especially when opinion back home was divided. There have been no simple answers to this vexing matter. There was even a demand at one point that the ashes be subject to DNA testing to ascertain their veracity. But that too officials discovered was pointless as the ashes were decomposed. Finally Anita Pfaff, Netaji's Germany-based daughter, said she too did not believe the ashes were that of her father.