Sabarmati ashram to buy back Gandhi memorabilia

Shocked by the extent and depth of German Gandhi memorabilia dealer Peter Ruhe’s ‘international Gandhi industry’, the Sabarmati Ashram Trust has announced it will buy back all memorabilia, pictures or any other items related to Mahatma Gandhi.

“We’d like to make a public announcement that any person in possession with such memorabilia is welcome to donate it to the ashram; but if he wants a price for it, we are willing to pay,” ashram trustee Kartikeya Sarabhai said.

He is also spearheading the project of an international Gandhi heritage portal, where a record of all these items — letters, pictures, any other form of Mahatma Gandhi’s memorabilia — will be available for viewing and subsequently a copy made available for sale at a nominal rate.

All the Gandhi memorabilia at the ashram were donated by collectors. This is the first time the ashram has offered to buy. Ashram managing trustee Amrut Modi says to qualify as memorabilia, the Gandhi item should be rare, precious and original; and the person should be willing to part with it at a “reasonable” price. Interested parties can contact Modi at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, or call on 079-27557277.

“We give assurance the items will be well preserved and made available to the public for free,” Sarabhai said.  The ashram’s decision follows Ruhe’s brazen visit and admission he wanted to sell Gandhi’s heritage, even to McDonald’s. “However, valuation of such memorabilia is tricky. How does one put a price tag, for instance, on the charkha gifted by V Subbarao that Gandhi had awarded?” says Tridip Suhrud, member, ashram standing committee.

Adding that Sabarmati ashram was a trust and cannot and should not buy items at auction rates like those quoted by James Otis in March 2009, Suhrud said, “We are open to authentic stuff which can add value to our collection. We are not collectors; we do not work for future gain.”

“90% of the pictures Ruhe claims to have are available with India’s various Gandhian institutions. We have over 8,000 digitised Bapu pictures, available to any researcher, for almost free,” he said.

Ruhe had made the ashram an “obscene” offer of Rs5.5 crore in March 2007 for pictures and other collections he had. He made 10 copies of some pictures and brought six copies to India, offering them to each Gandhi institution for Rs1 lakh each. All the institutions refused. “He also offered to host an exhibition of Gandhi’s pictures at an obscene cost, which we refused. His relations with us soured since,” Suhrud said.