NRIs buy Gandhi letters to return them to India

A series of letters, postcards and articles signed and autographed by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi were bought in an auction here today by two leading NRIs, who plan to present the precious documents to the government of India.

Entrepreneurs Sir Gulam Kaderbhoy Noon and professor Nat Puri bid for the priceless letters and postcards at almost double Sotheby's pre-sale estimates.

A series of 29 letters and four autograph notes signed by Jawaharlal Nehru for friend Mridula Sarabhai, together with a signed document, a signed greeting card, and 29 envelopes (estimated price £5,000 or Rs3.97 lakh) also sold for £8,750, but it was not immediately known who the buyer was.

Restaurateur Sir Gulam, better known in the UK as 'Curry King", said he bid on the telephone for the Gandhi articles and bought them for around £10,000.

The first lot comprised three letters from Gandhi to maulana Abdul Bari, an Islamic scholar and a leading figure in the Khilafat movement. The letters are written in Urdu. The letters referred to Hindu-Muslim relations, including communal tension in Lucknow, and to the personal friendship of the Mahatma and the maulana. In one letter written from prison, Gandhi thanks Bari for the gift of cotton for spinning.

Abdul Bari (1878-1926) worked closely with Gandhi from 1918 onwards.

The second lot comprised a piece of khadi cloth that is said to have been woven by the Mahatma and bears his signature. The hand-woven white cotton piece (42cm x 39cm) with a simple purple border was signed by Gandhi in Gujarati.