The Hindu : Front Page : Christie’s withdraw Gandhiji’s manuscript

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Tuesday, Jul 03, 2007
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Front Page

Christie’s withdraw Gandhiji’s manuscript

Hasan Suroor

Last-minute move to enable Government acquire it

It was expected to fetch between £9,000 and £12000
“We want important historical record returned”

LONDON: A rare Gandhi manuscript, which was to have gone under the hammer at Christie’s here on Tuesday, has been withdrawn to enable the Indian Government to acquire it.

The surprise last-minute move followed frantic behind-the-scenes efforts by New Delhi to prevent the auction. A spokesman of the Indian High Commission here said the Government hoped to acquire the manuscript “expeditiously.”

The manuscript — a draft editorial note written by Mahatma Gandhi for the Harijan magazine 19 days before his assassination urging toleration towards Muslims — was to have been auctioned as part of the private collection of the late Albin Schram. The Austrian lawyer was famous for his treasure trove of letters of some of the world’s leading figures.

It was expected to fetch between £9,000 and £12000, regarded as “peanuts” in auctioneering circles.

Christie’s, which had billed it as a major event, said the executors of Albin Schram had agreed to withdraw the manuscript.

“We are pleased to have facilitated the negotiations which have resulted in an important historical record returning to India,” Amin Jaffer, International Director of Asian Art at Christie’s, said.

The High Commission declined to be drawn into the “modalities” of the proposed acquisition.

“We’re happy that at our request Christie’s have agreed to withdraw the manuscript and we look forward to completing the process of acquiring this important manuscript on behalf of the Government of India expeditiously,” an official said.

The proposed auction had sparked a controversy and the Government was under pressure from Gandhians and historians to acquire the letter. Written on January 11, 1948, the seven-page draft article appeared in the January 18 issue of Harij an. It was written on the reverse of a memorandum on food distribution submitted to Mahatma Gandhi. The article discussed the status of Urdu and the treatment of Muslims in newly independent India.