A letter written by Mahatma Gandhi just 19 days before his death has been brought back to the country from London after being bought by the government for about 18,000 pounds (Rs 15 lakh), a source said.The document, a hand-written article by Gandhi for his newspaper Harijan, nearly went under the hammer at Christie’s in London earlier this month. The Indian government negotiated with the auctioneers and representatives of the late Albin Schram of Switzerland, who owned the letter, to gain possession of the manuscript after paying the price.

The source said the letter was brought back to the country from London earlier this week by Pavan K Verma, director general of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, on his way back from New York, where he had gone to attend the World Hindi Conference.

The letter written on January 11, 1948 underlines how, even when he failed to stop Partition, Gandhi had an enduring belief in Hindu-Muslim harmony. And one way free India could see the two communities come closer was by learning to enjoy each other’s shared linguistic heritage.

But it disturbed Gandhi to see many Hindus boycotting Urdu. “Those who in anger boycott Urdu script put a wanton affront upon the Muslims…This is copying the bad manners of Pakistan with a vengeance,” the Mahatma wrote.

The decision to buy the letter overrides suggestions made by an expert committee which had raised concerns that by paying money to acquire the letter, the government would be encouraging more people in possession with such objects to try and sell them.

The committee also felt that a large number of people who had donated such items in the past to institutions like the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library would feel cheated and prospective donors would be discouraged.

The committee said that since the letter was not written to someone but to his own paper, legally the document belonged to Navjivan Trust in accordance with the will made by the Mahatma in 1940, and this position should have been communicated to the auctioneer.

The government is now trying to finalise the institution where this document can be kept. It is learnt that the document would be first handed over to Navjivan Trust which will then pass it on to the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, which houses a treasure of private papers of various national leaders.

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