Will make every possible effort to get back Gandhi items: Min

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) India Thursday said it was making
"every possible effort" to get back Mahatma Gandhi's personal
items which are set to go under hammer in the US.

"Every possible effort will be made to bring back the
articles which are a part of the national heritage," Minister
of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said here.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is very keen to get back
the personal belongings of Gandhi which form "valuable and
priceless" part of the country's heritage, he told reporters.

James Otis, the American owner of Gandhi's belongings, set
new conditions that include India shift priorities from
military spending to health care for the poor to take the
items off the auction, but Sharma said India has already taken
several "broad initiatives" for the country's welfare.

Reacting to conditions set by Otis, Sharma said, "Perhaps,
he is not aware that in this country there are several broad
initiatives and national missions for which adequate resources
have been allocated be it rural development, education and
healthcare."

Otis decided to auction five Gandhi memorabilia, which
include the iconic round-rimmed glasses.

"Government is making all efforts possible to ensure that
the belongings are restored to their rightful owner, the
Navjivan Trust, to whom the Father of the Nation had willed
his movable and immovable personal belongings," External
Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.

Sharma said talks were on between Otis and officials of
India's mission in the United States.

"We hope that our appeal to his good sense to withdraw
these articles from auction reach him," he said.

"The auction itself militates against Gandhian
principles. Auctioning what belonged to Gandhi violates the
very philosophy of the Father of the Nation," Sharma said.

The memorabilia is up for auction at Antiquorum
Auctioneers in New York. PTI SKU
PMR
NNNN

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