Click to play videoNew Delhi: The scheduled auction of a letter written by Mahatma Gandhi, possibly his last before his assassination, has ruffled feathers in the Indian government.
The letter, written on January 19, 1948, is part of a collection of manuscripts put up for auction at the famous auction house Christie's in London.
Gandhi is said to have written the letter weeks before he was gunned down, appealing for religious tolerance.
"The Gandhi letter is great. It's written very shortly before he died - it's about three weeks before he did. And it's about the issue effectively that killed him. He was killed by a Hindu fanatic, because he urged moderate policy toward Muslims. This is a manuscript for his journal, in which he's urging moderation towards the Muslim population of India,” says specialist with Autographs, Letters and Manuscripts for Christie's, Thomas Venning.
The Indian High Commission in Britain - upon the instruction from the Ministry of External Affairs - is negotiating with auction house and is keen on buying the letter before it goes under the hammer on the July 3.
The Ministry of Culture has also received a fax from Deputy High Commissioner of Indian Embassy in UK, Ashok Mukharjee.
"We have contacted the auction house Christie’s regarding the same. High Commission is negotiating with the auction house but auction house is keen to contact representatives of the owners of this letter,” Mukharjee has written in the fax.
Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Rajmohan Gandhi said he was unaware of the issue and that no one has contacted him in this regard.
Gandhi also said ownership of Gandhi’s letters belonged to India's Navjeevan Trust Publication.
However, the Trust is not doing anything about the matter. Officials say it’s a big proprietary issue that "can’t be solved overnight."
Christie's also issued a statement but refrained from commenting on the matter.
"The auction will take place on Tuesday and it's open to public. We have no other reaction," the statement said.
BLUR_B
Words of wisdom
The letter is a part of a rare collection of over 100 handwritten manuscripts called the The Albin Schram Collection of Autograph Letters and is valued at £ 12,000.
The late Austrian-Swiss collector gathered the manuscripts over a period of 30 years, unknown even to his family.
The collection is expected to fetch close to $4 bn.
Besides Gandhi's letter, the collection also includes writings by key figures in history like Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I, Sigmund Freud and even Napoleon.
Gandhians upset
Gandhians have reacted strongly to the issue. "We are trying to find out what the issue is. None of us has seen the letter so I don't know about the authencity of the letter, but if it is authentic, it should be brought back to India," said Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande.
Another Gandhian Satya Paul, who has written to Prime Minister Manmohan SIngh to intervene in the issue, says India must get back the letter. "When I read in the papers that this important letter of Gandhi is being auctioned, it pained me. The letter should be brought back or government should bid for it. It should be a part of our archives," said Paul.
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19 days before his assassination, Gandhi discusses the Urdu script and Hindu treatment of Muslims in newly-independent India. Gandhi announces his regret at having to discontinue the publication of his mouthpiece, Harijan, in the Urdu script, though he sees it as inevitable because of the dwindling demand: 'The dwindle was to me a sign of resentment against its publication ... My view remains unalterable especially at this critical juncture in our history. It is wrong to ruffle Muslim or any other person's feeling when there is no question of ethics'; Gandhi urges the advantages of learning Urdu script: 'The limitations of this script in terms of perfection are many. But for elegance and grace it will equal any script in the world'; he considers the potential of Urdu for shorthand, and for the transcription of Sanskrit verses; any suggestion of a boycott on Urdu script is a 'wanton affront upon the Muslims of the Union who in the eyes of many Hindus have become aliens in their own land. This is copying the bad manners of Pakistan with a vengeance'. The address ends with a ringing call to 'Muslim friends' not only to support the Urdu edition but to learn the Nagari script and thus 'enrich their intellectual capital'. Gandhi founded his mouthpiece publication, Harijan, in 1933, originally in order to deal with the Untouchable question. The present article was written for the journal during the period of inter-communal tension which followed immediately upon the Independence and partition of India: the following day Gandhi announced his last fast, in protest against communal violence. On January 30 he was assassinated by a Hindu extremist whilst on his way to evening prayers.
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