India was on Wednesday making last ditch attempts to stop Thursday's auction of Mahatma Gandhi's personal items here and is even seeking the US State Department's intervention, as it prepared to negotiate with the US-based owner of the memorabilia to settle the issue.
Personal belongings of Gandhi -- his metal-rimmed glasses, pocket watch, a pair of sandals and a plate and bowl -- is expected to come under the hammer at the auction house Antiquorum Auctioneers in New York.
Top diplomats at the Indian Consulate held a high level meeting with representatives of Antiquorum Auctioneers here in yet another bid to stall the controversial sale.
"We have asked our embassy in Washington and Consulate General of India in New York to do everything that is required through the bidding process or otherwise to acquire the Father of the Nation's personal assets for the country," minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said in New Delhi.
James Otis, the US-based owner of the prized items, said in Los Angeles he is travelling to New York to meet Indian government officials to try to settle the issue. He told CNN that he hopes the Indian government is "willing to offer something very generous to India's poorest in exchange for the donation of the items to the government."
With the planned auction sparking an outrage in India, leading Indian American hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal has said he along with some of his friends of Indian-origin, will bid
for the prized items to take its possession and return it home.
"I would like to go even to a quarter of a million dollars, This is not big money,especially when you want to buy it with among 8-10 friends and give it back to your country -- India," Chatwal said. The items are to be sold as a single lot with an estimated low bid ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 USD
"Any Indian should buy it and the purpose is to buy and send it back home. The auction is online, on telephone and we of course will be physically present," he said.
Meanwhile Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Tushar Gandhi said in Mumbai that India should ensure that the items are brought back to where they belong.
"Stopping the auction is one thing but ensuring that what belongs to India comes back to India is a totally different ball game," Gandhi said.
Gandhi also attacked the US owner of the articles James Otis. The items include the iconic metal-rimmed glasses of the Mahatma.
"Does he think Indians are morons. Does he think we are so gullible that we can't look through the plainly selfish motives," he asked while reacting to Otis' comments that he
would consider donating the articles if Indian government allocates five per cent of GDP for the poor.
"First you put the things up for auction and then at the eleventh hour, you want to become a saint," he retorted. Otis had said that he would consider donating the items free if the government announced plans to spend five per cent of GDP on the poor and some other such major scheme.
