India planning to declare Mahatma's articles as antiquities

E T B Sivapriyan
New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) Waking up to preserve the rare
belongings of Mahatma Gandhi after auction of some of them,
the government of India is planning to declare articles owned
by him as antiquities that will entail compulsory registration
of such items by whosoever possesses them.

A proposal to amend the Antiquities and Art Treasures
Act 1972 has been prepared by the Culture Ministry to declare
Mahatma Gandhi's assets as antiquities and bar their auction
or sale.
Once an article is declared as an antiquity, a person
who possesses it has to register it with the Government and
would be barred from selling these.
The bill has been prepared in consultations with
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Gandhians, official
sources told PTI.
The sources said the Government may also request
"friendly countries" and nations with whom India has
reciprocal arrangements to ask people who possess such items
to register and prevent auctioning of such items.
The Government move comes eight months after some rare
personal belongings, like iconic round glasses and pocket
watch, of the apostle of peace went under the hammer in New
York. (MORE) PTI ETB
DDC


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