M A I N   N E W S

special to the sunday tribune
No buyer for Gandhi’s letters
Shyam Bhatia in London

The controversial letters written by Mahatma Gandhi to his oldest son Harilal failed to find a single buyer at a British auction of historical memorabilia.

Before the auction, the letters were expected to fetch at least £60,000 (approximately 60 lakh), but no buyer stepped forward when the bidding started.

A marble bust of Maharaja Ranjit Singh was, however, sold for £12,000 and a dagger from the post-Ranjit Singh royal court in Lahore fetched £10,000. A book by Russian traveler Prince Soltikoff, who visited Punjab in 1840, fetched £3,500.

A spokesman for the auctioneers, Mullock’s, said the absence of interest was “amazing”. He said, “None of them sold, there was no real bidding on any of the Gandhi material. I was surprised coming to the sale that we didn’t have any serious inquiries.”