04 March,2009 04:59 PM IST | | PTI
Leading Indian American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal has said that he along with some of his friends of Indian-origin, will bid for the personal items of Mahatma Gandhi that go on auction here on Thursday.
Personal belongings of Gandhi - his metal-rimmed glasses, pocket watch, a pair of sandals and a plate and bowl - will come under the hammer at the auction house Antiquorum Auctioneers here.
Chatwal said he and other well wishers were ready to cough up to a quarter of million dollars to acquire the items and then transfer them back to India.
"I would like to go even to a quarter of a million dollars, $300-400 thousand. This is not big money, especially when you want to buy it with among 8-10 friends and give it back to your country - India," he said.
"Any Indian should buy it and the purpose is to buy and send it back home. The auction is online, on telephone and we of course will be physically present," he said.
Meanwhile Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Tushar Gandhi said in Mumbai that India should ensure that the items are brought back to where they belong, even as the Indian government asked its diplomats in the US to do everything that is required to bring the articles back.
"Stopping the auction is one thing but ensuring that what belongs to India comes back to India is a totally different ball game," he said.
"I hope the Government of India understands this difference and behaves in a manner where it will be guaranteed that those things would come back to India," Tushar said.
He said what belongs to the father of the nation, necessarily belongs to India. The US-based owner of Mahatma Gandhi's memorabilia has said that he will meet with Indian government officials today to try to settle the issue.
James Otis said that he hopes the Indian government is "willing to offer something very generous to India's poorest in exchange for the donation of the items to the government."
Armed with the interim injunction order passed by Delhi High Court, India is approaching the US to prevent Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings from going under the hammer.
"The Ministry of External Affairs is going to take up with the US State Department the issue with an aim of stalling the auction at Antiquorum Auctioneer in New York," Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said.
The Delhi High Court, moving on the appeal of Navjivan Trust, founded by the Mahatma, had yesterday stayed auctioning of Gandhiji's belongings.
Pleading that the US-based auction house, be restrained from putting the items under the hammer, the Trust contended that these articles could not be sold as they belonged to India and were illegally taken away from this country.
