India offers to buy Gandhi memorabilia
India offers to buy Gandhi memorabilia
Hong Kong/New Delhi: India has offered to buy the personal effects of Mahatma Gandhi and a telegram on which the independence leader wrote “All good causes create good wishes" to pull them from a planned New York auction, the owner said. Also, leading hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal has said that he, along with some of his friends of Indian origin, will bid for the items.
James Otis, a Los Angeles-based documentary filmmaker, said he received an emailed offer from India’s New York consulate to buy the seven items scheduled for sale by auction house Antiquorum on Thursday. “The offer is too low to consider," said Otis, 45, declining to give specifics. The online sale catalogue had an estimated price of $20,000 to $30,000.
Otis said he would donate the items to India in exchange for a government pledge to improve health care. India will also seek the assistance of the US state department to stall the auction, PTI reported, citing Ambika Soni, minister for tourism and culture.
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