Date:01/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/01/stories/2007080162250300.htm

New Delhi

Mahatma’s manuscript returns to motherland

Staff Reporter

It is handed over to Navajivan Trust managing trustee Jitendra Desai

It was written by Gandhi in January 1948 for Harijan magazine
ICCR sourced it from the English auction house Christie’s

Photo: R. V. Moorthy

Happy Moment: ICCR president Karan Singh holding the manuscript by Mahatma Gandhi which was brought from London to New Delhi on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI: The much talked about draft of one of the last articles penned by Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at a special function here on Tuesday. Written in January 1948 for his magazine Harijan, the write-up deals with the dwindling circulation of the Urdu edition of the magazine.

Sourced by ICCR

The parchment, yellowed with the passage of time, was sourced by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) from the English auction house Christie’s where it had been put up for sale by a Switzerland-based collector.

The ICCR president, Karan Singh, said it was a matter of great honour that the draft had returned to the country of its origin and presented the manuscript to Jitendra Desai, managing trustee of Navajivan Trust.

The Trust holds the copyright for all written works of the Mahatma.

Payment details

Divulging details of the amount paid to Christie’s, Dr. Singh said that £15,000 were paid upfront for the manuscript, while £3,000 were paid as a premium.

The Mahatma was a prolific writer and had based his entire communication network during the freedom struggle on postcards and letters, he added.

Mr. Desai said the English auctioneers had also thrown in another letter by Gandhi written in Gujrati and posted from Wardha to a certain Mr. Khambatta, acknowledging the receipt of some bank cheques. The managing trustee of Navajivan Trust later handed over the plastic encased scrolls to Nehru Memorial Museum director Mridula Mukherjee for their preservation and public display.

Without bidding

Written just 19 days before his assassination, the draft was brought to the notice of the Prime Minister’s Office a couple of months ago. When informed of the imminent auction of the draft by the English Auction house Christie’s, the PMO collaborated with several agencies namely, the Ministry of Culture, the ICCR, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian High Commission at London to convince the bidding organisation to exempt the article from being publicly auctioned.

The Indian Government managed to attain the possession of the draft without entering the bidding fray.

Christie’s withdrew the bid a day before the date of the official auction with its International Director of Asian Art, Amir Jaffer, saying: “We are pleased to have facilitated a resolution of the issue.”