India to acquire Gandhi’s letter as ‘owners’ relent
One of the last letters penned by Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi has been pulled from a London auction so that it can be acquired by the Indian government, Christie’s auction house said Monday.
By Agencies |
LONDON: One of the last letters penned by Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi has been pulled from a London auction so that it can be acquired by the Indian government, Christie’s auction house said Monday.
Christie’s had earlier insisted that the six-page document, which was to go to auction as part of a larger collection on Tuesday, would be sold despite Indian protests. But the collection’s executors reconsidered, agreeing to withdraw the letter and hand it to the Indian government, Christie’s said in a statement. The auction house did not give any further details on the arrangement.
Gandhi wrote the letter, which was expected to sell for up to £12,000 ($24,000), 19 days before his assassination in New Delhi by a Hindu extremist in January 1948. Addressed to an Indian magazine, it pleaded for tolerance toward India’s embattled Muslim population. Amin Jaffer, the International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s, said Christie’s was happy with the arrangement.
“We are pleased to have facilitated the negotiations which have resulted in an important historical record returning to India,” Jaffer said in a statement. The letter was part of a collection quietly amassed over three decades by the late Albin Schram, who kept the documents in a filing cabinet in his home in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to Christie’s.
Christie’s had earlier insisted that the six-page document, which was to go to auction as part of a larger collection on Tuesday, would be sold despite Indian protests. But the collection’s executors reconsidered, agreeing to withdraw the letter and hand it to the Indian government, Christie’s said in a statement. The auction house did not give any further details on the arrangement.
Gandhi wrote the letter, which was expected to sell for up to £12,000 ($24,000), 19 days before his assassination in New Delhi by a Hindu extremist in January 1948. Addressed to an Indian magazine, it pleaded for tolerance toward India’s embattled Muslim population. Amin Jaffer, the International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s, said Christie’s was happy with the arrangement.
“We are pleased to have facilitated the negotiations which have resulted in an important historical record returning to India,” Jaffer said in a statement. The letter was part of a collection quietly amassed over three decades by the late Albin Schram, who kept the documents in a filing cabinet in his home in Lausanne, Switzerland, according to Christie’s.
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