New Delhi - The scheduled auction of a letter written by Mahatma Gandhi, believed to be his last before his assassination, has ruffled feathers in the Indian government, media reports said Wednesday. The letter, written on January 11, 1948, is part of the collection of rare manuscripts being put up for auction by Christie's in London on July 3.
The PTI news agency, quoting government officials, said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office had swung into action after learning about the auction and had directed India's Culture Ministry to acquire the document.
The letter being auctioned by Christie's, estimated to be worth around 12,000 pounds, was written 19 days before Gandhi's assassination.
In the letter, written for the Harijan newspaper of which he was editor, India's apostle of non-violence had called for religious tolerance in the country.
The CNN-IBN network reported that the Indian High Commission in Britain had initiated talks with the auction house.
The letter is a part of a rare collection of over 100 hand-written manuscripts called the The Albin Schram Collection of Autograph Letters.
The late Austrian-Swiss collector gathered the manuscripts over a period of 30 years.
This is not the first time that Gandhi's letters have gone under the hammer. In 1998, a total of 18 letters written by Gandhi on Hindu-Muslim unity and non-violence were auctioned by Sotheby's in London and these were purchased for India by some non-resident Indians.
