Otis wants Mahatma Gandhi`s articles back immediately

Dharam Shourie

New York, Mar 14 (PTI) A week after Mahatma Gandhi's
personal belongings went under the hammer here, the US-based
owner of the items Saturday said he wanted the articles back
from the auction house as he was unhappy over the "dispute"
between liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who bought it for USD 1.8
million, and the Indian government over the memorabilia.

"The gentleman (the one who bought Gandhi's items) is
from the opposing party than the government. So, they are
already in dispute over what is going to happen to the items,"
James Otis, owner of the five articles, said.

He was non-committal when asked by PTI whether he
would donate the items to India if he got them back.

Otis said he would negotiate with India on the "two
proposals he had submitted – increase in the spending on the
poor and fully paid exhibition of Gandhi's items in 78
countries to spread the apostle of peace's message of non
violence."

Apparently referring to Mallya refuting claim of
India's Union Culture Minister Ambika Soni that the government
was in touch with him before the auction on March 6, Otis said
it has become a political issue and it "doesn't seem very
Gandhian".

Hours before the auction, Otis offered to withdraw
them from the auction but the auction house did not agree.

The US Justice Department, whose intervention was
sought by the Indian government to implement the injunction
issued by the Delhi High Court against auction of Gandhi's
belongings, had asked Antiquorum Auctioneers not to transfer
the items to the buyer for two weeks.

"I am feeling very unhappy about this whole thing... I
would have been able to raise a million dollars for
non-violent causes... I decided to come back to New York as I
did today and contact by Attorney. And we are now in the
process of doing certain steps to get them return to me
immediately," Otis told NDTV.

His attorney Ravi Batra told PTI that he is sending a
letter to the auctioneers, saying that the owner does not
approve of the sale and wants all five items to be returned to
him.

Depending on their response, Ravi said he would take
legal steps to get Gandhi's iconic round glasses, a watch, a
pair of sandals, a bowl and a plate in which he was said to
have taken his last meal returned to Otis.

The Indian government had rejected the proposals sent
by Otis contending that conditions set by him infringed on the
country's sovereignty.

But, Otis said he had not heard formally so far from
the Government and seen only press reports.

Otis said he is refining the proposal to be more
specific which would be sent to the government through Consul
General Prabhu Dayal.

Batra said he plans to send the letter to the
auctioneers latest by Monday with copies to Dayal and Tony
Bedi, who had successfully bid on behalf of Mallya.

The auctioneers did not return phone calls seeking
their comment on the latest development.

To a question as to what he plans to do with the rest
of Gandhi's items in his possession, Otis said he had not
decided yet and would continue to talk with the Indian
government.

Asked how many items he had, Otis said, "quite a few."
The items in possession, he said, include letters signed by
Gandhi both in English and Gujarati and autographed
photographs.

Prior to the auction on March 6, Otis had said he is
adding two more items to already five offered for auction. The
two, he said, were a blood report of Gandhi from Irwin
Hospital, now known as Jayapraksh Narayan Hosptal, and a
signed telegram sent by Gandhi to students on their
successful non-violent agitation.

But the auctioneers did not include the items
apparently because they were not in the catalogue they had
circulated.

Mallya's move to bid for Gandhi's items came as a
total surprise as his name was never mentioned among those who
might bid for the items. The bid on the floor was made by Bedi
and it was not until the auction was over that the liquor
baron's name surfaced to the surprise of everyone present.

One of the bidders was a South African, who was very
much interested in the items. Bids were received over the
phone and Internet from overseas. None of the bidders were
identified.

So much interest was aroused that the auctioneers
showed a small clip of Gandhi's everyday activities before
bringing his belongings to auction. And the bid increased so
fast that it was impossible to keep track.

Within three minutes, the bid had reached USD one
million. After that it slowed downed a bit but picked pace
against. Once it reached USD 1.8 million, the person
auctioning the items waited for quite a while before bringing
down the hammer. PTI